From One Day To The Next
by fizzwizz15
Summary: The Sunday after the movie. CLaire has a bombshell at home and she goes out for a walk in which she meets someone. From that walk, to the next week, month and year, things change in ways she'll never imagine. John BenderClaire.
1. Chapter One: Thoughts and Parents

Chapter One: Thoughts and Parents

12.03pm

Claire lay on her double bed, spread out on her stomach and resting her head on her arms. She had been watching her electric alarm clock and it seemed to take forever just for the next minute to come.

12.03pm

Blinking, a small sigh emitted from her as the clock would still not change. The red lighted numbers stared back, seemingly going to unbudge at any second.

Annoyance caused Claire to finally turn away from the stubborn clock and roll onto her back, staring at the white roof above her.

It was Sunday, the day after Saturday and the day before Monday.

The day between yesterday's change and uncertainty of what tomorrow holds.

Claire's thoughts drifted back to yesterday and just how much she had discovered about herself. Before yesterday she had never paid attention to Brian, Alyson or John Bender. Sure she had talked to Andrew once or twice, but yesterday had really changed how she saw everything.

School, her friends, family strangers she saw everyday at school, herself…

John Bender.

Her hand slowly made its way to her left ear where the hole was still empty. She had taken out the diamond earring from her right ear when she had gotten home yesterday, but she had placed it in her special jewellery box.

Inside it was many bits and pieces that many would find useless, but everyone had a special meaning to her. The earring which now sat in there would make her remember yesterday's lessons and John Bender, forever.

The day where she saw the world differently and she had received her first kiss.

Memories stirred and Claire smiled as she remembered those brief seconds with John Bender again and again.

Suddenly her mother's voice rang out clear throughout the entire house as she yelled, "Claire, come here please. Your father and I want to talk to you."

There was a tone in her mum's voice that made Claire feel incredibly uneasy. It spoke of bad news that was the big, life changing sort.

"I'm coming mom." She called back as she pushed herself off the bed and waled out of her bedroom towards the lounge room.

As she began walking along the hallway that lead to the stairs down to the second level of her house, Claire suddenly experienced a terrible sense of deja vu.

Divorce.

She had said it yesterday in front of everyone as if it was no big deal, but now her words were ringing true in her ears.

Claire walked in silence the rest of the way until she finally got to the massive room that was called the lounge room.

Inside waiting for her was the scene of her mum sitting on one couch, and dad sitting on another. Both looked at her, grim-faced and that alone made her know that she was right.

Claire's mum saw the distraught emotions on her daughter's face, and immediately she stood up and walked over to Claire.

"I'm sorry Claire." She said sadly before giving her daughter a hug. "This can't go on any more between your father and I."

Claire could feel her mum's arms around her, could smell her mum's flowery perfume…but she felt numb.

She couldn't feel anything, but she knew she should.

Wrapping her arms around her mum, Claire briefly returned the hug before pulling away. Claire took a step back and stared at her father, who was still sitting on the couch.

"Who is going to go?" she asked him, surprised at how steady and even her voice was.

Slowly her father stood up and waled towards Claire with a sad expression on his face. He stopped in front of her and gently laid both of his hands on her shoulders.

"The question you should be asking Claire," he said softly, "is who do you want to go with?"

Claire stared up at him in silence, unable to say anything as shock ran through her. A realization hit home as to why she was being asked to choose.

Her parents didn't really care about her. This was about seeing who would really win whatever competition they had between them.

Whoever she would choose, that parent would consider that as the ultimate victory.

Claire suddenly felt short of breath as this realization was making everything become too much for her.

She had to get out of here, the room, the house.

Now.

Get out and just go and get some air, clear her head.

"Daddy I need to think about this." She said slowly, trying to keep her self in check from bolting out of the room. "Can I have some time to myself to do this? Please?"

Quickly glancing at her mum, who nodded at Claire, he smiled and nodded too. He removed his hands from her shoulders and this allowed Claire to turn her back on her parents and walk out of the room in silence.

Without thinking twice of what she was doing, Claire walked to her bedroom, put on her most comfortable shoes, grabbed her shoulder bag that contained all of her essentials and took her diamond earring out of the jewellery box and putting it in her right ear.

In silence she waled out of her bedroom and didn't stop walking until she had walked out of the front door, without so much as a goodbye, and shut it behind her.

Glancing around to see if they had noticed her departure, Claire was disappointed when no one inside gave any indication.

She sighed sadly at the whole situation. With a last glance at the white double doors behind her, Claire unconsciously touched the lone diamond earring gin her ear.

_I need a walk to clear my head of this shit…_

With this thought in mind, Claire took a step off the porch and onto the driveway. She began walking till she reached the road and when she did she stopped.

To her left was the way to uptown, expensive shopping complex's and the wealthy, to her right was downtown, freedom and normal people.

Without a moment of hesitation, Claire turned right and began to long walk that would hopefully clear her head and thoughts of everything.


	2. Chapter Two: Pinball Confrontation

Chapter Two: Pinball Confrontation

She had no idea where she was going and she didn't care. Time did not mean anything as Claire walked and waled down the numerous sidewalks and streets.

Her gaze was fixed solely on the ground as thoughts ran through her head, around and around.

What was going to happen now?

The issue, and shock, of the divorce had taken away all concern for what was going to happen at school tomorrow.

Claire was no longer concerned if Brian, Andrew, Allison or John Bender came up to her, in front of all of her friends, and said hi. School did not matter anymore, her world was now split in two as her own home was going to be separated…

And she had to choose.

The idea of being able to go and live with her brother was going to be unacceptable to both her parents…it didn't help he lived in another state.

The cement under her feet suddenly turned into gravel and Claire immediately looked up to see where se was. The sight before her made her smile, regardless of everything.

She was in the street downtown where, on both sides, it was the arcade central.

Not many people knew this but Claire loved playing the odd arcade game…

The street was busy and teenagers of all ages were streaming in and out of the different arcades. Some were in groups, some in couples, even some people who were alone.

The great thing that Claire noticed was that all social groups were here.

_At least I won't stick out then…even if I am by myself._

A sense of happiness entered Claire as she discovered what was going ti help distract her for a little while from the troubles in the world.

She walked into the closest arcade on the left side of the street and scoured through it until she found the first available pinball machine. With great difficulty she found one. It was right up at the back of the arcade behind all of the police gun games, hidden from anyone who couldn't be bothered looking properly.

Claire couldn't help but get the feeling that someone wanted to keep this machine hidden so no one else could use it.

As if it was a guarded secret.

This did not deter her though as she placed a quarter into it and the neglected machine burst into life with sound and lights.

The first ball appeared and Claire released it with amazing ferocity. Within seconds she was lost in concentration as her own body became a machine that operated the two pedals that prevented her from losing her silver ball.

She was completely unaware that of everything except of the silver ball that was flying around inside the glass case. She could only hear the clangs, beeps, bounces and 'flips' coming from the game.

The score was beginning to build, although Claire was completely oblivious to it.

_Just keep your eye on the ball_

This mantra was repeating itself over and over in her head.

Claire was too sucked into the world of pinball to realise that she was being watched.

&&&&

This person was watching her with the same amount of concentration that she was using in the game. He studied her every movement as she hit the ball around like a gaming professional.

He was slightly alarmed though when he noticed that her score was quickly approaching the high score that no one had ever been able to break…

The one that he himself had set.

What surprised him though was she wasn't even looking at the score screen…she was so immersed in the game that she was away from reality.

He knew that people only did this for one reason…

To escape the world and its problems.

John Bender was guilty of this himself, but seeing Claire Standish doing the same thing, in this part of town, was extremely worrying to him. Normally he wouldn't give a shit or think twice about that person, but…

It was Claire.

The girl who had visited him alone in the closet…

The girl who had kissed him yesterday…

The girl who had given him her diamond earring…

The girl who had cast a spell over him since yesterday…

The girl who was probably going to ignore his existence at school tomorrow.

Bender suddenly felt annoyance flair though him, but he didn't know what was going

to happen tomorrow. He wasn't fucking psychic.

Suddenly a loud sound emitted from the pinball machine as Claire lost her first ball.

He heard her give an annoyed sigh, "Shit!" before taking her hands away from the two buttons that controlled the buffers. Bender had no idea how to approach her…or if he should for that matter.

But he didn't have to worry about that as he watched her hand move to her right ear.

Bender immediately knew what was in her ear.

&&&&

Claire fiddled with the diamond earring gin her ear and the familiar weight of it gave her a sense of comfort.

The hole in her other ear was empty and she could not help but think about John Bender.

Did he still have the earring that she gave him?

Did he want to kiss her again as much as she did him?

Did he feel as drawn to her like she was to him?

Did he ever wonder what was going to happen tomorrow?

Did he want to continue whatever it was that had developed between them yesterday?

Her concentration was now completely way now from the pinball machine and the silver ball inside that was silently begging to be released.

Tense muscles in her shoulders and back caused her to raise her arms in the air and stretch all of the muscles.

Claire shut her eyes as she felt all the tension leave the muscles, causing her to smile.

Just as she was about to relax and return to her game of pinball, Claire suddenly felt a finger run down the back of her spine, hitting all of the sensitive nerves and spots.

The effect was instantaneous and her whole body involuntarily jerked away as if she had been electrically shocked.

Anger and annoyance flowed through her as she whirled around to see whoever the hell it was.

She opened her mouth to let all hell loose when suddenly she saw John Bender only a metre away from her.

He was wearing the exact same clothes as yesterday, except he didn't have his long grey coat with him. He had both arms crossed and was gazing down at her with his cheeky, cocky smirk that silently said to her 'who else did you think it would be?'

All words died on Claire's lips at the sight of him. It may have been only yesterday that she had last seen him, but seeing him in front of her now made Claire realise that she had missed him…

A lot.

_How much one day can change everything…_

Bender watched the surprise on her face and he could not help but grin down at her. She definitely had not been expecting it to be him.

To be honest he hadn't expected her to be here either.

"Hey Cherry."


	3. Chapter Three : Playing and Questions

Chapter Three : Playing and Questions

"_Hey Cherry."_

Hearing his voice made unbidden goosebumps rise on her arms. Claire could not help but worry at how her body was reacting just from hearing a guy's voice…let alone John Bender's.

Yesterday he had made her experience feelings that she had never felt before.

He was still grinning at her while her thoughts managed to merge into a single cohesive one.

She smiled back and spoke.

"Hey."

Bender swaggered forward and stopped directly in front of her, stealing away all close proximity she had had only seconds ago.

Claire didn't know how to react; she felt her heart speedup and her breath shorten as his closeness began to affect her.

He knew the effect he was having on her. It was obvious on her face, the blush that was faintly appearing under her skin, the small gulps of nerves as her brain couldn't control the repressed hormones speeding round her body.

He loved it.

Slowly he leant his face towards hers and stopped when his lips where only a centimetre away from hers.

Claire didn't know what to do but the sight of his lips so close to hers was making her heart beat so fast and loudly she was surprised the entire arcade couldn't hear it.

Just when Claire was about to lean forward and place her lips on his, he spoke.

"I see you found my pinball machine."

Sense returned to Claire and she looked up into his amused brown eyes.

She glared at him, hurt at his actions, "_Your _pinball machine?"

Bender grinned and shrugged before taking a step forward, pressing his body briefly against Claire's. She could feel the material of his clothing through her own, but the contact was quickly broken though when Bender brushed past her and walked over to the neglected pinball machine.

"Have fun playing with my balls?" he asked, his voice sounding sincere but a smile was barely repressed on his face.

Claire didn't whether to feel disgusted or furious. Immediately her face went into an expression that was a mixture of both and the look of it only made Bender grin more when he turned back around to glance at her.

"The balls in my pinball machine." He said as his expression changed into one of mock shock. "Oh I'm sorry Cherry, did you think I meant something else?"

He even spoke with mock shock and when Claire couldn't find anything to say, Bender made 'tut-tut' sounds with his mouth before he turned his back on her and gazed back at the pinball machine.

Claire suddenly heard the pinball machine flair into life as Bender released the second and began playing.

Immediately she wanted to yell and growl at him for playing on something she had paid herself, but she decided against it because it would mean he wouldn't have to say something sarcastic or horrible back to her. She wasn't in the mood for his crap.

Slowly she stepped forward and positioned herself at the side of the game and watched through the glass top the action that was happening inside.

Her attention began to slowly turn away from the actual game to the player. She watched the concentration on his face, how quick his hands were at directing the ball, the way his hair bounced when he moved his head a certain way…

"Stop looking at me."

Claire snapped out of her reverie and found Bender looking at her with a strange expression. He looked almost angry, but unsure and worried at the same time.

He looked vulnerable.

"Why not?' she asked, wondering what it was that he could not bear to have her look at him.

Bender blinked at the confusion on her face and saw a slight amount of hurt.

"Because I can't concentrate when you do."

A small smile crept to her lips and slowly she turned her face and gazed at the pinball machine.

Now Bender was even more uneasy as he didn't know where Claire was looking now. Every now and then he'd catch out of the corner of his eyes her own suddenly looking back at the game.

Just having her there made it difficult to concentrate but her looking at him made concentration fly out of the window.

It seemed the silver ball in the machine could sense what was going on because it was darting everywhere and Bender was having difficulty keeping track of where it was.

Suddenly Claire reached out and touched his arm and Bender completely lost his control of his hands when they suddenly stopped pushing the two buttons that controlled the rudders.

Bender turned his head and gazed at Claire in surprise and a little bit out of fear with just how much she affected him with just one touch.

His surprised expression suddenly turned into one of anger when the consequence of his loss of concentration rang clear in the sound from the pinball machine saying he had lost the second ball.

Bender gave a growl of frustration and he suddenly raised a fist above the glass cover.

Claire had a fair idea what Bender was going to do next and she quickly, but bravely, stepped in front of him.

Separating him and the pinball machine.

Bender's gaze turned dangerous as it darkened into one of pure anger. He stared at her in silence for a full minute, fist still raised and ready to strike.

Fear slowly started to rise in Claire as she found herself staring at John Bender's anger…

And she was in the way of it.

Slowly Claire reached out with both of her hands and placed them over his raised, clenched fist. Her hope of being able to soothe him was successful as she watched the anger drain out of his face and out of the rest of his body.

His fist relaxed and became supported by her hands as he let it drop.

"Fucking pinball machine." He grumbled and Claire could not help but grin.

She let go of his hand and turned back to the pinball machine where the third and final ball awaited to be released.

"My turn." She said without looking at him, positioning herself back into gaming mode.

Bender watched her, confused that it seemed she had forgotten about him…

Or maybe she was ignoring him?

_Or maybe it's a competition…_ he though with a wicked smile.

He waited for a second and just as she was about to release the third and final ball, he spoke.

"So why Cherry are you in this part of town?"

The question threw her off guard and she struggled for a second to not release the tension in the spring to catapult the ball into life.

Slowly she let go of the spring and with it was back in its original position and the ball was in no danger of being released, Claire whirled back around to face Bender.

He saw the anger on her face and Bender knew he had breached a very touchy subject.

"Mind your own business John!" she spat at him before turning away from him once more. She couldn't bear to look at him when she could feel tears begin to rise in her eyes.

The whole sudden change in her attitude of how spoke to him made Bender feel stung.

She was speaking to him as if yesterday had never happened! The fact that she had used his first name forced him to remember Dick's threats from yesterday.

Bender could not handle this from Claire.

"What happened Princess?" he sneered back, reverting back to his usual self. "Daddy ground you? Took away your keys to the BMW?"

Claire glared at him. "I don't drive you idiot."

Bender looked at her in mock surprise, "Of course, I forgot. Daddy chauffers you around at your every bidding. Like a lap dog."

Claire leant against the front of the pinball machine when Bender suddenly stepped forward and leant forward so his face was only centimetres away from her own.

His brown eyes bore into her own and Claire found she couldn't look away.

Bender knew he had her.

"And is he your lapdog Claire?"

Her hand instantly rose and swung towards his face, but before it could hit its mark Bender's own gloved hand moved quicker and caught her wrist. His grip was tight but it didn't hurt her as he held it.

Slowly her gaze moved from his hand and her wrist up to his face, fearful of what she might see.

Bender was still looking at her but his expression had changed again.

Gone was the sarcastic, taunting face and in its place was a blank one.

It was totally devoid of sharing any emotion.

Claire had seen this expression only a few times yesterday and she wished she knew what he was thinking.

"I'm sorry." She quietly said before slowly having a tug at her imprisoned wrist.

But it wouldn't budge.

"Why are you here Claire?" he asked finally, his voice sounding like something that came close to caring.

Claire looked away from Bender's blank face and said, "My parents are getting divorced and I had to get out."

She gazed back at him and saw that his expression hadn't changed.

"I'm sorry I played with your pinball machine." She quietly said, her voice trembling with the uncontrollable sadness in her.

Suddenly she wrenched her wrist out of his hand, grabbed her bag and quickly ran away from Bender and away from the pinball machine.

Bender watched her retreating form for a second and when he saw her disappear from view, he turned back to the game but he found that he wasn't in the mood for gaming anymore…

He turned his back on it and began walking away and left.

The pinball machine was alone once more and the third ball lay there, unreleased and forgotten.


	4. Chapter Four: Emotions In The Park

Chapter Four: Emotions in the Park

Claire made it to one of the local parks on the next block before all strength left her body and she fell to the ground under a tree, sobbing.

She didn't care who saw her crying, she didn't care how she looked or what would happen to her next.

All of her repressed sadness and shock had finally won through in making her feel the pain she had been ignoring the past two hours.

It was unbearable.

She felt hollow and her heart was breaking.

_How the hell can I survive the divorce when I will only be an object that my parents will use against each other? Oh god, is it my fault? Was it my detention yesterday that caused them to finally split? What if…_

Claire couldn't think anymore as the pain and sadness overwhelmed her once more.

She picked herself up off the ground and lent her back against the tree. She brought her knees up to her chin and she rested her forehead on them, allowing her some kind privacy from the world.

Her shoulders began to shake as deep sobs convulsed her chest so strongly that it was beginning to hurt. Claire didn't notice though as tears continued to roll down her face, drip off her nose and onto her top, leaving a wet patch that was growing bigger steadily by the minute.

A severe headache was beginning to form behind her eyes but still Claire did not notice for she was still lost in her grief and sadness.

A figure stood on the other side of the park and watched her. His own heart was clenching in pain at seeing her like this.

So sad, desolate and alone.

_Not even a princess should cry like this…_ he thought sadly.

Slowly this figure began walking across the park towards her.

&&&&

Bender always cut through the park as a shortcut to get to most places quicker, but when he had seen the small huddled form of a red headed female under a tree at the opposite end of the park, he had known exactly who it was.

But instead of continuing on his way like he normally would have done, the sight of Claire like that had made him stop and watch her.

She looked so vulnerable he couldn't help but feel a need to wrap her in his arms.

This feeling was so unfamiliar to him he quickly whipped out a cigarette, held it to his mouth and lit it with his lighter. After a few deep inhales he felt a bit better but the feeling was still there.

Suddenly a low crying noise caught his ears and he quickly realised that it was Claire's cries echoing across the entire park.

Across the park towards him.

The sound made his heart wrench out powerful feelings in him.

The need to care, comfort and soothe her tears away.

Bender gave a deep sigh as he dropped his cigarette on the ground and put it out with his boot. He dug his hands deeply into his pockets and began the walk that would lead him to Claire.

He didn't know why he should go over there but all he knew was that he cared enough about her that he couldn't bear to see her cry and he wanted to take away her pain.

And that was enough.

&&&&

Claire's tears hadn't slowed when she finally looked up to see if she was still alone.

Through her blurred vision she was an indistinguishable outline of a figure in the background that was slowly approaching her.

Wiping her tears on a sleeve, Claire saw that this person was none other than John Bender.

When they suddenly made eye contact Bender stopped walking and Claire suddenly became scared that he wouldn't approach her.

The thought of John not wanting to walk up to her suddenly made tears rise anew in her eyes.

Claire looked away and sniffed, feeling rather pathetic and useless.

She didn't even bother to wipe away the tears when they began to fall. Closing her eyes Claire hung her head and exhaled deeply, releasing all of her feelings of helplessness and being lost in life.

God she had never felt like this before.

Suddenly she felt a gloved hand softly encompass her right hand.

She hadn't even noticed before that he had sat down next to her under the tree.

"I'm sorry Cherry." He said quietly, causing Claire to immediately raise her head and look up at him.

She could see concern etched deeply on his face and she could not help but give a trembling smile at him.

"It's ok…it's not your fault." She replied, surprised at how steady her voice sounded. "Why are you here anyway?" she asked, confusion set on her face, barely recognisable though her smeared makeup and blotched.

Bender looked at her apprehensively, "I walk through here. It _is _a park unless your tears made you not be able to see that."

Claire looked at him crossly before snatching her hand out of his and jumped up into a standing position. She brushed the grass and dirt off her skirt, not looking at the still seated figure of Bender who was looking up at her with a slightly confused expression.

Feeling his eyes on her, Claire turned and looked down at him on the ground.

"John I can't handle shitty comments like that from you. Not now. Not at the moment." She said sharply, internally wincing at how she sounded.

But it was true and she couldn't handle her emotions to become anymore unstable.

Bender rose so quickly from the ground that Claire took half a step backwards as a reaction. He didn't pay attention to that though as he looked at her with a hard expression.

"Well sorry Cherry, but unless you teach me to how to talk out of my ass then I guess you'll have to be stuck with what I have to say." He replied harshly, trying not to notice the hurt on her face and the tears re-rising in her eyes.

She suddenly couldn't bear the sight of John Bender and Claire turned her back on him, hoping to god that she still had some dignity left.

Before she could take a single step away from where she was standing, Claire suddenly felt a gloved hand seize her left shoulder and spin her around back to face him.

Bender was looking at her with such a mixed expression it was impossible to tell what he was feeling. But when he suddenly placed both of his hands on both sides of her face, Claire knew what he was thinking.

She leant against his hands and looked up at him with a deep longing that was mirrored in his own eyes.

It was he that finally leant his head towards hers and joined his lips on hers…

Finally doing the thing he had been longing to do ever since he had seen her playing on his pinball machine back at the arcade.


	5. Chapter Five: Kissing and Telling

Author's Note: Thanks for the review by StephBender0791. :) It made my day. Chapter Five: Kissing and Telling

The kiss was so soft and tender, Claire couldn't help but close her eyes in bliss.

A kiss soon became another and another until soon it became a multitude of kisses and both had lost count.

Bender's hands slowly moved away from her face as he wrapped his arms around her upper body, drawing her flush against him. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning fully against him.

Claire was just beginning to think that maybe she had just gotten the hang of kissing when suddenly Bender sucked slightly on her bottom lip and she suddenly let out a little moan.

Bender pulled back just far enough to see her face turn bright red but he was just extremely proud of himself.

Claire watched his gleeful expression on his face and she knew that she had wanted to get a reaction like that from her.

She watched him as he bent his face forward but she felt it softly press against the side of her own. His mouth was right next to her ear and Claire had no idea what he was going to do next.

"There's so much you don't know Claire," he said softly into her ear, "so much."

Unsure as how to respond, Claire gently pressed the side of her face against his and slightly nuzzled against his hair.

It felt silky and soft on her skin, not dry and dirty like she had first imagined when she first saw him walk into the detention room yesterday.

She turned her head far enough so her nose nestled against his neck. Claire couldn't help but deeply breathe in the smell of John Bender.

He smelt of smoke, cheap aftershave and a musky smell that only belonged to him.

_God he smells good…_

"Show me John…I want to know." She finally replied as the smell of him was beginning to make her feel a little dizzy.

Bender moved his head and neck away and Claire looked up at him.

He was gazing back at her with a serious expression and didn't say anything and Claire understood why.

He wanted affirmation from her before doing anything.

Claire liked her lips before gazing at the spot on his neck where she had kissed it yesterday. Without a second though she leant forward and gently kissed the same spot again.

She heard Bender sigh deeply and Claire didn't know why.

Leaning back she saw he had his eyes shut and all the muscles on his face were relaxed.

He looked almost close to being peaceful…

Something inside Claire suddenly made her lean forward and kiss the opposite side of his neck, right underneath the jaw line.

Bender exhaled again and instead it was through his nose and Claire suddenly realised that it was a good reaction to what she was doing.

"Do you like that?" she asked cautiously.

He opened his eyes and he could not manage any words but a simple nod.

_She has no idea what she's doing to me…_

Claire looked incredibly proud of herself and see her like this made him suddenly have an interesting thought.

"Cherry its time you know what it was like to have a guy's tongue in your mouth." He said with an incredibly cheeky smirk on his face.

Her face instantly paled but John would not allow it deter him as he slowly moved his head towards hers.

The instant they nearly touched lips, Claire suddenly drew her head back and looked up at him, unsure and scared.

"John what if I'm no good?" she asked fearfully.

She didn't want to properly kiss Bender and be terrible at it.

A huge smile burst onto his face and Bender couldn't help but lean forward and give her a small peck on the lips.

Quickly pulling back he saw a small blush appear in her cheeks and he felt his heart warm towards her even more.

"Cherry even _I _had to start somewhere once upon a fucking time." He said, amused when he remembered his first 'real' kiss.

Claire felt a little bit better at hearing this but nerves kicked in again when Bender slightly leant his head towards hers again.

His lips hovered above her own and as Claire felt her body begin to buzz with nerves and anticipation, she heard Bender say one more thing before he fastened his lips with hers.

"And Cherry, its time you learned."

&&&&

_**15 minutes later…**_

Claire was now a master at kissing with her tongue.

It had been extremely awkward and weird at first but after a few, slightly disastrous, attempts, she had started to get the hang of not: biting his tongue, slobbering everywhere, attempting to eat his face with her mouth, choking him with her own tongue and sounding like a vacuum cleaner whenever she breathed.

Her body had somehow gone with the weird flow of kissing but soon she had surprised even John Bender with how quick she had gotten the hang of it.

&&&&

They were now locked in an embrace and so wrapped up in each other they didn't see the group of people passing by.

The bitchy gossip group from school…

The group of fifteen girls were made up with the biggest bitches in school and their aim as a group was to cause trouble for everyone by spreading rumours and making their lives shit.

They were known to everyone as 'The Bitch Brigade'.

But seeing Bender and Claire kissing so passionately in public view of everyone suddenly made them stop in their tracks. Quickly they all glanced at each other. An evil smile was exchanged between everyone and with a silent nod, they turned on their heels and walked out of the park.

Silently so they would stay unseen from the smooching couple.

They couldn't wait till tomorrow.

&&&&

It was the feeling of her bruising mouth that made Claire slowly draw sense back into herself and the incredible, but slightly scary, insatiable hunger for John's kisses slowly began to ebb away.

She changed the speed of their kiss into a long, slow one that felt as if they had all the time in the world. ..

But sadly time would not wait or stop for them.

Finally they broke apart and just gazed at each other, neither knowing what to say for neither had felt like this before…

Never had they been with another person who could make the feel of time disappear.

It was Claire who broke the silence as she began to slowly run a hand through his long hair.

"Thankyou." She said quietly.

Bender slightly furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "For what?"

Claire looked deep into his big brown eyes and smiled, "For feeling comfortable enough to distract me at the arcade."

John Bender looked at the girl before him and for the first time in his life he had nothing to say back.

Shocked at his own loss for words, he moved his head back and tilted it slightly to the left.

Suddenly a small glint could be seen through his long brown hair and Claire could see her earring still in his ear.

A swelling wave of emotion rose up within her as she slowly reached up to her own ear and touched the matching earring.

Bender just smiled, shrugged and said, "How could I not? I was bored and…" he paused briefly before suddenly leaning forward again, "you know you can't ignore me if you tried."

His voice dropped lower when he spoke the last part of his sentence, and Claire felt a heat suddenly rush through her body.

What was he doing to her?

Claire leant forward too and she looked coyly at him.

"I wouldn't want to ignore you."

Bender smiled and closed the distance between them when he kissed her again, but this kiss was one of pure need and hunger.

Claire responded immediately and again she felt the heat rush through her but this time it was everywhere inside her.

Suddenly he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"What the hell are we going to do Claire?" he asked and she immediately knew what he meant.

What was going to happen tomorrow at school where social pressures would be back around their necks like a leash, controlling and restrictive.

"We are just going to have to do the right thing." she replied, unsure if that was a good answer.

"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Bender asked, suddenly angry at her.

He let go of her and stepped back away from Claire, glaring at her.

She had no idea what was his problem but if he couldn't do the right thing then it was hiss loss.

Claire began to grow angry at him and his mood swings, "I meant, John, that at we shouldn't give a shit about what happens tomorrow at school." she fired back at him. "I thought that yesterday had taught us just how fucked up school really is and I've only just realised that I longer care what my friends think of me anymore cause I've changed." she paused for a second before summoning the courage to continue. "And I thought you had too."

Bender looked at her with an unbreakably hard expression and Claire found it hard to not look away.

Suddenly he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her tightly, burying his head into her neck to hide his face and seek comfort he had never had before.

"What does this mean for you and me?" he asked against her neck, inhaling the lovely perfume she was wearing.

Claire wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as tightly as he was to her.

"I don't know John…I just don't know." She replied sadly.

"Why do you call me John?" he asked, slightly muffled against her neck, "I hate that name. Vernon calls me 'John'…fucking prick."

Claire felt his arms around her tighten as Bender remembered the verbal abuse and threats he had received in the closet yesterday.

She knew that something must have happened between him and Vernon yesterday after they had left the library. It must have been bad if he was holding onto her so tight, seeking comfort from someone who cared for him.

This thought made alarm bells suddenly go off in her head as Claire couldn't help but realise, yes, she did care for him.

A lot…

She became slightly scared with just how much she did, and how quickly she had fallen for him.

_God, I only had gotten to know him yesterday…now I'm making out with him the next day in the park. What the hell?_

Claire positioned her head so it was against his exposed neck and sighed.

"What are we going to do?" she asked quietly.

"Be brave, walk into school and…" he started but he couldn't continue because he didn't even know what they were going to do.

Were they even a 'they'?

Bender suddenly realised that the entire time he had been with Claire today he had not thought about, or even looked at another girl.

He was beginning to fall for her.

John Bender didn't believe in one boy, one girl but his own fucking body was betraying him by falling for a cherry princess.

God he couldn't get enough of her though…

What the hell was wrong with him?

Putting the worry into the back of his mind to ponder over later, Bender just ignored everything in the world but the feel and smell of the girl in his arms.

It now seemed that time had sped up for them because they were now on the verge of having to say goodbye to each other on the one free day they had together…even if it had been unintentional.

Both slowly drew apart and stared at each other in silence.

Claire took a step back, totally separating herself from him.

"See you at school?" she asked hopefully, although her voice slightly trembled.

Bender dug his hands deep in his jean pockets and looked down at the ground, scuffing it lightly with on of his boots. After a second or two, he looked back up at Claire with his cheeky smirk.

"Sure Cherry, I'll see you tomorrow…if I can be bothered to come that is," he replied, half grinning at her in the way that made Claire know that he was going to be there.

She grinned back and gave a small nod before finally turning away from him and began the walk that was going to take her home.

Claire did not look back because a part of her suspected that he wouldn't be under the tree still, not watching her as she left, so she refused to allow herself to build false hopes only to have them crushed if she turned and discovered he wasn't there.

"Hey Cherry!" a loud voice yelled and echoed across the park towards Claire, causing her to suddenly turn around and glance back.

John Bender was still standing under the tree, but now he was leaning against it with his arms crossed.

Claire couldn't believe it. Happiness and warmth exploded within her as she yelled back, "What?"

"Wanna go play with my ball?" he yelled.

She looked at his distant figure with confusion for a second before it suddenly occurred to her what he was talking about.

He meant the arcade and the forgotten pinball machine.

There was one ball left to play…

"Yeah sure." She yelled back and she watched Bender begin to walk towards her.

He was a good twenty metres away from her but Claire couldn't help but smile at his confident walk.

It was almost impossible to tell that behind all that confidence and lack of care for most things was really a lonely, unloved boy who came from a place of physical and emotional abuse.

_Maybe he won't be alone anymore…_

As this thought passed through her mind, Bender had managed to catch up with her.

"You ready Cherry?" he asked and she smiled at him before nodding.

"Yeah sure. It's my turn if I remember correctly so prepare yourself for and ass kicking." She replied, a challenge clear in her voice. "And you won't be able to distract me no matter what." She added when he looked at her with a strange expression.

Suddenly he began to walk off in the right direction and Claire followed him in silence, wishing he would say something to her…

She got her wish.

His voice spoke so quietly she could barely hear it, but she did.

"That's what you think…Cherry."


	6. Chapter Six: 'Because You Need This'

Chapter Six: "Because You Need This…"

And so they walked towards the arcade, taking a short cut in a side alley where they were alone and there was silence.

Claire walked beside Bender's side with her mouth shut because she had no idea what to say to him.

Every now and then she'd half turn her head and quickly glance at him, then turn her head away just as quickly.

Bender didn't know why the hell she was doing it but it seemed she was waiting for him to break the silence between them.

_Why the fuck does it always have to be up to us guys to do the talking…_

"Ya know Claire…" he began and instantly Claire was looking at him full-on. Bender didn't look at her though nor did he continue with his sentence.

This was annoying.

Silence once again drew its ugly head but Bender was also sick of it.

"Claire when someone says 'Ya know what Claire' you say 'What' or 'No' or other various options because the English language is such a large and colourful thing, but that I believe this s how you keep a conversation going."

Annoyance sharply ran through Claire as she look at him again but with a glare on her face.

"I know that." She replied in a tone of voice that said 'I am not that stupid!'

"Well then…" he said looking at her expectantly, "say it."

"Know what?" she huffed in annoyance at the whole thing.

"Do you know that the last 5 left in a beer can is your own saliva?" he asked, grinning when he saw her blanche. "Fact 101 of the day Princess, but you've probably never drunk beer so it doesn't mater."

Claire was beginning to regret her decision to cam along with him.

_Why is he treating me like this? It's like earlier didn't happen_, Claire thought sadly as she looked away to see where they were.

"That's gross." She replied but there was no disgust in her voice as Bender had been expecting.

It kinda ruined the effect he had been going for but he turned his head and saw sadness on her face.

_Oh Claire…_ he thought, know that she had taking his teasing to heart.

"Yeah it's gross," he said, still grinning but he reached out with one of his hands and grabbed one of her own, "but all a load of bullshit."

Claire looked up at him in surprise and his grin widened into a smile.

"I just wanted to see your reaction princess."

Admitting that he enjoyed manipulating her just to get a response made hurt surge through Claire so sharply that she instantly stopped walking and pulled her hand out of his. Bender stopped walking when the contact between them broke and he turned to look at her.

She was standing a metre away from him and from the hurt expression on her face he instantly regretted for acting like such an asshole to her.

He had to stop that…

"Why would you do that John?" she asked, hurt laced thickly in her voice. "It's kinda sick that you get off on being horrible to me."

Bender blinked once before looking away, slightly abashed at her question and causing him to run a hand through his long hair.

He had never felt embarrassed in front of a girl before…

"Ah hell…" he muttered to himself before looking back at Claire. "I'm sorry Cherry." He said sincerely, his eyes showing her just how sorry he was.

He suddenly became agitated and couldn't stand still. Claire watched him begin to walk around in random directions. She didn't say anything though because she knew he had too much built emotion in him and he had to let it out otherwise he would explode.

"I only say shit cause I'm asshole." Bender said, annoyed with everything as he waved his arms everywhere in the air otherwise he'd begin to punch something.

"So why don't you stop being such an asshole?" Claire asked, annoyed because she knew that Bender shouldn't be taking it out on himself.

Bender suddenly stopped walking around and turned to look at Claire and she felt scared again.

He was looking at her the same way he had when he had stared at Andrew yesterday when he had brandished his flick knife.

He looked like he could kill…

So why did she suddenly find herself walking towards him?

Claire stood bravely in front of Bender and stared at him with a hard expression, knowing that if she showed pity of care he would turn away from her.

Anger was his emotional released, and so she had to help untrigger it.

She took a small breath before suddenly stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Bender's chest.

His reaction against her was instantaneous, Bender attempted to try and pry her arms off him, but the harder he tried the tighter she held onto him.

Her actions only caused more annoyance and anger in him and that only made Bender stronger as the feel of her arms around him was beginning to weaken.

Claire's strength was beginning to fail but she still held on because it was high time that someone showed Bender that not everyone was afraid of him…

And that is was ok for someone to be able to show and give him comfort.

Bender suddenly picked up Claire and wrapped his arms around her to support her weight on him. He carried her over to the closest wall and pinned her to it with his body so she couldn't get away.

The crushing weight of his body against her chest made it slightly difficult to breathe, but Claire still held on with her arms around him.

Bender's hands suddenly slid her up the wall so she found herself eye to eye with him, and Claire still had her hard expression that evenly matched his.

"Claire let go of me." He said in a dangerous voice that spoke in volumes to Claire that he was very close to breaking point.

She would not budge.

"No."

"Claire let go of me." He repeated slowly but his voice had gotten slightly deeper.

Claire felt his grip on her hips tighten to the point that she knew she was going to have bruises.

She had never been more scared in her life but Claire's expression softened as she stared into his big, slightly maddened, brown eyes.

"No John. I won't let go." She replied, her voice softening because she could see that he was beginning to change.

The slight madness sin his eyes was fading but his expression remained the same.

"Claire let me go." He repeated but his voice had also changed. It sounded like he was exhausted and Claire's heart was beginning to melt.

"No." she replied softly as Bender's expression finally melted into one of defeat and uncertainty.

"Claire." He pleaded slightly but she just looked at him.

"John."

"Let me go."

"No."

"Why?"

Bender looked at her with a confused expression but suddenly he felt her arms loosen and move from around his chest, only to snake themselves around his neck.

He made no attempt to push away her arms or to move away at all.

"Because you need this." She quietly replied before leaning in and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

Instantly she felt Bender respond to her kiss and she felt him let go of all his tension and anger into their kiss as it suddenly became hard and passionate.

Claire surrendered to the power of the kiss as well.

Bender was clinging to her as if he was drowning but it was nearly out of desperation to be able to believe that someone cared for him, really cared and that they would always be there.

It was when his kisses slowly turned soft that Claire knew she had done a good job. She had exorcised his anger and self loathing for himself, for the moment, just through the power of affection, comfort and support.

After a time they broke apart and Bender placed his forehead against hers and sighed quietly, "Claire, Claire, Claire"

Claire opened her eyes and saw that his were still closed.

"Yeah?" she quietly asked.

Bender opened his eyes and stared into hers with a half smile on his face.

"You are a stubborn little bitch you know…" he said with a little chuckle, causing Claire to smile.

"Had to be sorry." She replied, smiling at him.

Bender rubbed noses with her before moving them back away from the wall and releasing his grip on her hips, placing Claire back on the ground.

She still had her arms around his neck, but she unwound them and stepped away from him.

He, smiling, offered out a hand to her which she took with a smile and they began to walk again once more.

"I wouldn't have you any other way cherry." She said quietly, causing Claire to blush and grin to high heaven as they walked the rest of the way to the arcade in a comfortable silence.


	7. Third Ball And A Bonus

Chapter Seven: Third Ball and a Bonus

Nobody gave them a second look when Claire and Bender strolled into the arcade hand in hand.

There were even worser cases of social suicide here, but it didn't matter because it was the weekend and it wasn't school.

Bender led Claire by the hand to the awaiting pinball machine, still hidden at the back of the arcade behind the police-gun games.

The third ball was still even there and Claire grinned in excitement.

She let go of Bender's hand and stood in front of the game. Placing one hand each on the two buttons that controlled the buffers, Claire released the third ball and the pinball machine roared back into life once more.

Bender watched as Claire went back into gaming mode and he remembered her challenge that she would kick his ass no matter what he tried to do to distract her.

_She has no idea what's coming…_ he though naughtily as he sneaked up behind her and began to breathe down her neck.

Claire's body nearly froze up when she suddenly felt his warm breath hit her neck, but her focus didn't shift from the game.

Goosebumps suddenly rose on her arms and Bender looked over her shoulder with a small triumphal grin when he saw them.

The fun was just beginning for him.

Claire kept her eye on the silver ball as it was flung back and forth under the glass case, but when she felt Bender's hands suddenly wrap themselves around her waist and his face bury itself in the side of her neck.

She felt his nose nuzzle against the sensitive skin on her neck and Claire's focus slowly began to slip from the game. IT was when Bender began to leave small kisses on her neck that she closed her eyes for one brief second as her body became overwhelmed with warm fuzzy feelings she had never felt before.

It was when she suddenly heard a loud sound from the pinball machine hat her eyes snapped open and she suddenly realized the that she had nearly lost to him.

Claire leaned forward away from his face and dangerous kissing mouth and she focused back on the game.

Bender grinned at just how much he was affecting this pristine girl…who was not so pristine thanks to him.

He was so close to making her lose that a part of him suddenly didn't want to make her lose. Then she would be sad and annoyed because of it and he didn't really want to make her sad again…

So he looked over her right shoulder and decided a different angle at her challenge.

Claire was very aware if Bender staring over her shoulder at the game, but she had no idea what he was going to do next.

Keeping her eyes set on the silver ball and its path, she didn't flinch or move as she felt his hands roam up the sides of her upper body to rest on her shoulders, then to slide down her arms to rest on her hands, which were still furiously pressing the two buffer buttons.

Bender leant against her back and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"It's not fun to play alone." He said in her ear with a smile and Claire leant her head to the side against his.

"Join me then." She replied and then they both went into gaming mode, acting as one to ensure that annoying silver ball wouldn't fall post those buffers.

Time passed by in a blur and it wasn't until a deafening happy tune exploded from the machine did they both look up and see that the all-time high record had been broken.

Bender blinked once, twice, three times and his shock was quickly replaced with a bizarre sense of happiness and satisfaction because he was halfway responsible for breaking it again.

But he had helped this time.

"Hey princess we broke my old record." He purred in her ear and Claire grinned from ear to ear.

"Yes we did. Now it's our record." She replied happily.

A message flashed on the small electronic screen saying that they had received a bonus ball.

"And we even get another go." She exclaimed excitedly and Bender just grinned.

"That's _my _ball."

Claire didn't say anything and Bender thought that he had hurt her feelings again but when she leaned back against him, he knew he hadn't.

"Then it's my turn to distract you." She grumbled slightly but when Bender suddenly gave her a big, fat, sloppy kiss on the cheek, Claire's sanity for self hygiene nearly snapped when she had the irresistible feeling of wanting to wipe her saliva covered cheek.

Bender knew it was only a matter of time before her concentration, and patience would break and she would have to lose her final ball.

To help speed things along, Bender leant over to the other cheek and laid upon it another fat, sloppy kiss.

Claire bit her lip really, really hard to stop herself from whirling around from the pinball machine to face Bender and give him hell…

But it was thought of what she could inflict on him that made Claire's temper stay in check.

Suddenly Bender bit gently on the back of her neck and it sent such unfamiliar sensual sparks rushing through her body that Claire's entire body went into hormone overdrive.

Completely forgetting about pinball, she turned around in his arms and faced an amused Bender.

"Stop it!" she growled, frustration clear in her voice.

He raised an eyebrow at her and Claire suddenly remembered her pinball.

Quickly turning around she saw it fall past the two buffers at the bottom of the machine and disappear forever.

The familiar beeping sound of losing a ball emitted from the game and Claire glared at Bender who still had his arms on both sides of her.

"You're so annoying!" she growled, giving him a slight 'whack' on the shoulder with her fist.

Bender was not unfazed as he gently pushed her out of the way and took position at the pinball machine.

Claire stood to the side and watched him release the bonus ball with a huge playful grin on his face.

Bender was completely ignoring her as she just watched him. Claire knew she would have to physically distract in order to make him lose his ball.

She took a step back and walked behind Bender so he couldn't see her at all. Claire had no idea how she was going to do it because she had no knowledge how to physically do it.

Kissing was too risky; covering his eyes would piss him off…

Suddenly an idea came to her as she gazed down at her two hands and Claire smiled sneakily.

Bender knew she was behind him but that was the only thing he was aware of apart from hitting that silver ball around.

Suddenly he felt two small hands press gently into his lower back. The sudden contact made his whole body freeze for a second and when he felt Claire mover her hands away he relaxed again.

Claire grinned at his reaction and at the knowledge that she know possessed.

She could affect him as much as she affected her.

Taking position behind him again, except standing faraway enough so they weren't touching.

Staring at his back, Claire assessed what was going to have to be done in order to distract him.

Claire stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and leant her head against his back.

Bender didn't outwardly react but she could feel the muscles tighten and dance under her arms.

This reaction made Claire realize exactly what needed to be done.

Bender could feel her arms around him and it was taking al of his will power to concentrate on the game. Just when he though that he was keeping it all under control, two cold hands slipped under the back of his shirt and pressed themselves against the warm skin on his back.

"SHIT!" he yelled out in shock as he jerked away from Claire's cold hands, but she moved her hands unmercilessly onto his stomach.

Bender let out a noise close to a bellow and he instantly moved his hands away from the pinball machine and wrenched Claire's cold hands off his skin and out from under his shirt.

Claire took a step back with a satisfied grin as she watched the bonus ball fall through the two buffers. Her smile disappeared though when Bender turned around to look at her just as the 'you've lost the final ball' tune began to play on the pinball machine.

He looked pretty pissed off.

"Umm…" Claire started but Bender just glared at her so she shut her mouth.

A horrible silence fell between them and Claire found that she couldn't look at him as his eyes bore into hers. Instead she focused on the diamond earring in his exposed ear.

"You're so fucking annoying!" he said in a harsh tone and Claire looked at him with annoyance at the use of using her words but adding in that little bit extra.

"Just cause you're pissed off that I beat you." She replied before grabbing her bag and swinging it over her shoulder.

Bender blinked at her action.

"You leaving princess?" he asked sarcastically.

Claire breathed in sharply at his tone and she walked past him with a huff, "Yes I am."

"Back off to your broken home too?"

His question made Claire come to a complete halt. She had entirely forgotten about her parents, the divorce and the decision she would have to make.

She turned around to face him. "Yes." She replied quietly.

Bender could see tears in her eyes and it was then he also realized that she had completely forgotten about her troubles at home.

"See you at school." She mumbled, a tear slipping out as she turned and began to walk away.

"Claire." He sighed and she half turned to face him.

"What?"

He walked up to her and drew her into a tight hug before leaning her back and kissing her softly on the lips.

"Thanks for today." He replied and let go of her.

Claire gave him a watery smile, nodded and began walking away, quickly disappearing from view.

Alone once more, Bender gazed at the lifeless pinball machine with a smile.

It seemed now that he had a reason to go to school tomorrow after all.

&&&&

Claire made it home after 5 and went straight to bed, not in the mood to face her parents and the horrible choice she would have to make soon. But while lying tucked up in bed with her eyes shut, Claire could only see him and still feel the kisses that they had shared.

It seemed not that Monday just couldn't come soon enough.

''''''''''''''

Author's note: thanks for all of the lovely reviews:D I will reply to them in the next chapter. :)


	8. Chapter 8: Monday Morning

Chapter Eight: Monday Morning

_**BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!**_

Claire's eyes snapped open and she quickly reached over to turn off the evil alarm clock.

Slamming the snooze button with her hand, Claire groaned quietly and snuggled back down under the covers with a sleepy scowl on her face.

_Monday morning…school…shit…_

She grimaced at the thought and curled into a ball under the covers.

Slowly another thought ran through her head and Claire suddenly remembered that that today was going to be unlike any other school day.

This thought made Claire suddenly smile and begin to uncurl.

She pulled her head outside the haven of her sheets and saw what time it was on the electric alarm clock.

7:41am

"Fucking hell…" she growled and shot back under the covers.

This was going to take forever to get to school.

&&&&

8:40am

Claire had dragged herself out of bed and tramped downstairs and managed to eat something. After that she had had a hot shower, gotten dressed, done her hair and make-up nicely, and now she was getting driven to school.

She felt sick…

Gazing out of the window, Claire just watched the blurred scenery outside in silence with a vacant expression.

"Claire…I know you must be in shock with the whole divorce issue between your mother and I." her father suddenly said.

She turned her face sideways and watched him drive, seeing if he had any concern on his face.

There was none.

"I'm alright daddy." She replied in her most sugary, princess voice with a big fake smile. 

Claire's father beamed at her and leant over and gently patted her knee.

"That's my little princess."

Disgust filled Claire at her father's lack of care for her, considering he was always the one that she turned to if she was in trouble.

Looking through the windscreen, the grounds of her school appeared and suddenly the car pulled up at the sidewalk.

The grey building looked incredibly depressing but Claire thought of John and a smile came to her face.

She could face school if he was there.

Suddenly she saw Alyson walking through the crowds of people towards the steps of the building.

Claire quickly gave her father a kiss on the cheek goodbye, said thanks and leapt out of the car with her bag.

The car purred away and Claire didn't even look back as she yelled out Alyson's name and rushed towards her.

Alyson looked around at the sound of her name and when she saw Claire she squeaked her acknowledgement and smiled.

Claire saw that she was wearing her hair back again with the same headband she had on Saturday. Her make up was still the same when she had left. She was wearing a long dark skirt, short-sleeved shirt and her worn sneakers.

Alyson looked different but still the same.

"Hey Claire." She said quietly, slightly clutching her bag in her hands.

"Hey Alyson." Claire replied happily, causing Alyson to smile to back. "How was your Sunday?"

Alyson opened her mouth to answer but suddenly first bell went for homeroom. Both looked up at the bell and glared at it. Once it had finished ringing they looked at each other with a smile and began to walk inside the school's entrance.

The instant Claire walked in, a loud female's voice shrilled loudly, "Claire!"

Instantly Claire stopped walking and turned to Alyson who gazed curiously at her.

"And so it begins." Alyson said sadly, looking over Claire's shoulder just in time to see the head of the popular group of girls strolling down the corridor towards them.

Claire looked at her confused but when Alyson suddenly turned and began to walk away, Claire immediately opened her mouth to call her name but she suddenly received a sharp poke in the back, which caused her to flinch.

Turning around, Claire came face to face with the girl she had considered on Friday her closest and dearest friend.

Mary Smith smiled at Claire with a smug look and Claire knew that Mary had some good gossip.

"Hey Claire, guess what? Well you won't so I'll tell you anyway." She gushed ecstatically and Claire just blinked.

"What's up?" Claire asked, trying to sound interested but found she just really wasn't.

Mary didn't even notice Claire's bored expression as she blurted, "The Bitch Brigade has been saying to everyone in the whole grade that you and that burner Bender were making out in the park yesterday!"

She looked at Claire expectantly with a large grin, "Isn't it the biggest load of bullshit you've ever heard?"

Claire stared at Mary in shock, "They said what?"

Mary instinctively assumed that Claire was agreeing with her with her opinion, "I know, that's what I thought but no one believes them of course. _I _know you wouldn't ever think about him let alone look at him."

Claire suddenly had the urge of wanting to go right off her face at Mary about her opinion of Bender.

How dare she say such things about him? But it was no secret that she herself would have said the exact same thing last week before Saturday and that made Claire hold her tongue.

"So what you got to say about it?" Mary asked with her coy expression, expecting Claire to lost it and deny it with total vehemence.

Claire looked at Mary and shrugged.

"What is there to say?" she asked and Mary couldn't believe it.

"Well you could deny it for one thing." Mary said, no longer smiling but looking at her with a weird expression. "Claire there's no way in hell that the Bitch Brigade could actually have some truth in their shit for once."

When Claire didn't reply Mary's expression changed into one of pure shock.

"Oh my god Claire…" she said slowly and Claire suddenly couldn't help but smile shyly.

She didn't feel guilty at all and she realized that she didn't give a shit was Mary, or anyone else, would think.

"I like him Mary and over the weekend I changed and became a better person. I don't care what you think cause there is more to life than school and I don't want to follow all the shitty social crap that people feel they have to follow here anymore." Claire explained and when Mary's expression became confused, she knew her friend wouldn't understand.

"Mary you obviously don't get it so I'm gonna go off to homeroom now and give you some time to think about it." Claire said, sounding a tad bit like Bender but not so sarcastic.

Claire turned her back on a stunned looking Mary and began to walk to her locker. She glanced at her watch and saw the time…

8:55 am.

"Shit!"

Breaking into a run, she bolted up a flight of stairs and down two corridors in order to make her way to homeroom. She ran down the second last corridor and turned left into the last one but a figure on the right corridor suddenly made her stop when she quickly glanced at it.

This figure had his back to her, walking away, as he strolled down the empty corridor, trailing his hand along all of the lockers and hitting all of the locks. He was whistling a tune she didn't know and it echoed through out the corridor, amplifying it and sending it into other corridors.

Today he was wearing his long grey coat and his scarf was tied around one of his boots, trailing along the ground whenever he took a step.

Seeing John Bender dawdling so he would miss homeroom suddenly made Claire smile.

He had come to school after all.

Her excitement and happiness at seeing him suddenly burst through her as she called out, "John!" and watched him come to a complete standstill next to the lockers.

Resting an open hand on the lockers, he spun himself around and faced Claire with a big grin.

"Hey cherry."

Her smile widened as she walked towards, "Hey."

When she reached him Bender looked up and down the corridor, checking it was clear, when suddenly he swooped down and kissed Claire.

The shock and suddenness of it made her freeze for a second but quickly she shut her eyes and relaxed. Wrapping her arms around his neck she felt his hands go to her hips and pull her closer to him.

Bender kissed the life out of her and when he pulled away from her, they were both out of breath and Claire was extremely flushed.

"Wow…" she said quietly and he just grinned.

"I'm just good cherry." He said, winking. "You heard those horrible rumors about us?"

He gazed at her intently, waiting for a reaction but Claire just leaned forward and gave him another quick kiss.

"Yep, and I didn't deny them when Mary asked me." She said, smiling at him.

Bender looked shocked for a second but he mirrored her smile on his face. He opened his mouth to say something but the deafening bell for first period sounded.

Immediately doors in every corridor opened and students began to pour out of them, walking to their first class.

Claire didn't even move to separate from Bender but he gave her a quick kiss on the lips and stepped away from her.

"I've got shop first up. Gotta go." He said and turned to leave but Claire grabbed one of his gloved hands.

He turned back to look at her and he saw uncertainty on her face.

"Talk to you later yeah?" she asked, worried about what would happen if he said no.

Her worry was so clearly portrayed on her face that Bender gave her a half smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Sure thing cherry. You can't resist me." He said, now rather smugly and smirking at the same time, but Claire just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you think." She said smiling and he just grinned.

At the same time they turned away from each other and walked off in opposite directions down the corridor.

Neither caring, nor noticing, that the entire corridor had seen their actions.


	9. Chapter 9: A History Lesson

Chapter Nine: A History Lesson

Claire had sat with Alyson in English and with Brian in math.

It had been great talking to them and in no way awkward like she thought it would be.

After asking why Alyson had walked off earlier, Claire had found out that it had been because of a look Mary had given Alyson that had made her leave.

Claire ranted and raged about the whole affair in math and Brian had simply replied when he had heard the whole story for the third time, "That's pretty fucked up Claire."

Recess had passed in a blur with Claire talking with Alyson and not even caring that the entire group of popular girls had ignored her and Alyson whenever they strolled past.

Double history was next and Claire became a little worried when she went into the classroom and realized that she would have no members from the Breakfast Club to sit with.

She took a seat right up in the back corner next to the window.

Her 'friends' walked into the room and sat in their normal seats at the front. They didn't look directly at her but every now and then their voices dropped to whispers and someone would quickly glance back at her then look back at the front.

The teacher still hadn't come in yet and all the jocks in the class were missing because of some meeting, so the grand total of their class was twelve. So it was very quiet.

Therefore Claire could hear exactly what they were saying about her.

"Oh my god! I can't believe she kissed scum like that!" and "Oh I know! How gross is that?" and "She has committed social suicide and there's no chance she'll get prom queen now." and "I don't think we should let her sit with us anymore." and "I don't even think we should be friends with her anymore either cause she's with that dickhead Bender."

Claire's temper finally snapped.

She pushed her chair back and stood up with such force the chair slammed into the back wall and caused all twelve sets of eyes in the room to look back at her.

"Girls I don't give a shit what you think of me!" she yelled at the top of her voice, angered beyond belief. "So until you can get that into your thickheads you can get fucked!"

Suddenly a loud voice boomed, "Claire Standish! You will see me after class!"

Claire turned to the door and saw her history teacher, Mr. Segger, standing there, red in the face from yelling.

Instantly she picked up her chair off the floor and sat back down in it, facing the front just to see her bitchy ex-friends giggle and snicker at her.

Claire glared out of the window. She heard the door shut and her teacher's footsteps travel to the front of the class.

Her focus and attention faded away as she gazed out of the window and she couldn't hear her teacher begin to give today's lesson.

Suddenly a sound caught her ears and brought her back to reality.

The door opened and she heard Mr. Segger's deep voice say, "Ah Mr. Bender, better late than never I suppose."

Instantly Claire looked at the door and sure enough Bender was standing there and gazing at Mr. Segger with an innocent expression.

"Yes sir, better never than late."

Mr. Segger just rolled his eyes and went back to writing on the board, allowing Bender to gaze and Claire and gave her a wink.

She smiled back and felt truly happy for the first time since she had spoken to him earlier.

Bender quickly sat down in the space next to Claire at her desk and looked back at the board.

"The Spanish Inquisition." He read out loud, but only loud enough so Claire could hear him, "that really pumps my nads." He said sarcastically and Claire just shook her head with a smile.

Claire began to take notes from the board but she didn't get far when Bender took her spare writing book and stole a pen from her pencil case.

She didn't say anything but rolled her eyes at his inability to ask for things.

Bender had seen her reaction and annoyance instantly filled him but he faded when he looked up and observed her interesting seating arrangement.

He suddenly began to scribble furiously on his paper and Claire watched it, curious as to what it could be.

When he had finished writing, Bender slid it over to Claire and she read it.

**Why are you back here?**

Claire looked at him and Bender just looked at her before motioning with his hand as if he was writing with a pen.

Quickly she got his meaning and wrote on the paper with her own pen.

_Cause I didn't want to sit with the people I had called my friends._

Bender raised his eyebrows at this but replied:

**Fair enough. Their stuck-up bitches anyway…so why was the Seggmeister yelling at you?**

Claire scribbled:

_I told my old friends that I didn't give a shit what they think of me and I told them to get fucked._

Claire suddenly felt his hand join with her own underneath the table. He gave her hand a quick squeeze as he wrote:

**Why did you get shitty with them?**

She sighed as she replied:

_They were bitching about me as if I wasn't here. They were talking about…_

She stopped writing as a thought occurred to her.

Claire skipped a line and started writing a new sentence:

_Are we... going out or just a thing?_

Bender paused for a full minute before answering:

**I…don't know. Yeah I guess cherry, we kinda are. I don't know what to call what 'this' is but…yeah sorta.**

Claire didn't know how to feel as she read this but:

_Well they were bitching about us. That was what made me lose my cool with them. Just some of the things they said about you just made me lose it._

Bender's heart felt all weird and warm as he read this. He shifted himself towards her till one side of his upper body was touching hers.

Claire felt the warmth of his body radiate through her clothes and it gave her goosebumps.

_You're nice and warm._

Bender smirked.

**I could make you burn.**

Claire blushed profusely and looked away for a second before writing:

_How would you know?_

Suddenly Claire felt his denim clad leg press against hers.

**Tease…**

_I am not!_

Bender drew a stickman with two love hearts for eyes and a drooling mouth.

**You are and you know it.**

Claire wracked her brain for a witty answer and she smirked as she wrote:

_Why would I need to tease you in order to get attention? Does that make you a tease for teasing me?_

Bender stared at her sentence for a minute and frowned, finding it difficult to come up with an answer.

She knew she had him.

Finally he replied:

**What if I like your pristine teasing?**

_I'm not that pristine._

Bender gave her a knowing smile:

**How could I forget cherry?**

Claire smiled at him and Bender saw her lone diamond earring in her ear. The one she gave him was still in his ear and he had been wearing, unembarrassed if anybody saw it.

Thankfully he hadn't run into Vernon yet but the sudden remembrance of his eight Saturday detentions made Bender's face fall.

Claire saw his change in mood and began to worry:

_What's wrong?_

**Eight fucking detentions with Dick. I had completely forgotten about them.**

Claire's face fell too:

_You really shouldn't have bitten back at him. He is an asshole and enjoys goading you cause he knows he can get a rise out of you…_

Bender wrote furiously:

**Don't you think I don't fucking know that?!**

Claire felt Bender suddenly fully move himself away from her so they weren't touching, including her hand. His moving away made Claire feel extremely hurt and she shifted her chair away from him as far as she could.

Time passed and soon the second lesson was nearly over. Claire had spent the entire time stewing and her pain turned to an uncontrollable anger and she finally wrote:

_If you knew that then why did you do it?!_

She slammed the pen on the table and grabbed her bag before getting up and storming out of the room, ignoring Mr. Segger's warnings and yells.

Bender watched her slam the door with a loud **BANG **and instantly he found himself jumping up out of his seat and ran to the door. Before he opened the door he heard Mr. Segger's voice growling at him.

He turned to look at the infuriated teacher and gave a shrug.

"She's on her period sir. Hormones in teen girls these days. She just needed some fresh air. I'll go and check on her."

The mention of periods made Mr. Segger suddenly go really white. His fear of blood was common knowledge throughout the school and it was often used to get out of his class.

When the pale teacher didn't reply, Bender shot out of room, shutting the door behind him.

Once outside in the corridor, Bender quickly looked left and right to see if there was any sign of Claire.

A flash of red hair going around a corner to his right, Bender immediately started off after her.

Just as he did, the bell for lunch went.


	10. Chapter 10: Lunch

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Especially astrakane and roguegambit! Big hugs to you guys and thanks for the ongoing support:D**

Chapter Ten: Lunch

Claire paid no attention to the bell as she stormed through the corridors and crowds of people who were heading off to the cafeteria.

She kept on walking until she made it outside the school building. Still she kept on walking, not caring where she was heading because she was in a shitty mood.

Making her way to the empty football ground seats; Claire stomped her way to the very top row and sat right in the corner on the far right side.

All the way to the seats she had heard heavy leather footsteps behind her and Claire had known who was following her. But she refused to turn around.

When she sat down Bender sat down right next to her.

Neither said anything or even looked at each other as they sat. Bender, leaning forward, fiddled with a loose thread on one of his gloves, looking very interested in it. Claire simply looked up at the clouds in the sky, trying to find pictures that made sense.

"You drive me crazy Claire." He suddenly said and Claire looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

He wasn't looking at her but he had stopped fiddling with his glove. His head was bent, causing his face to become covered by his long hair.

"Why did you follow me John?" she asked sadly, still hurt from his attitude in history.

Bender finally turned his head and looked Claire in the eye. The look in his eyes portrayed so much emotion and depth, Claire found herself gazing into them.

Gently, Bender placed a gloved hand on her cheek and sighed as Claire shut her eyes and leant against his hand.

"Why did you follow me?" she repeated quietly, not opening her eyes because she could feel the familiar burn of tears.

"Because princess Claire stood up to her bitchy friends because she believed in something different." He answered quietly. "Because cherry Claire sat at the back of a classroom because she was fine with sitting alone for the first time in her life. Because Miss Claire Standish told those bitches to fuck off after she heard them talk about her. Because you walked out of class and not even _I _do that often with Mr. Segger." He said with a strange smile and when Claire opened her eyes to look at him and saw it was admiration.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked again and Bender smiled sadly at her tears.

He cupped the other side of her face in his hand.

"Because you believed in me and stood up for me." He replied before leaning down and kissing her.

The rollercoaster of emotions inside Claire suddenly made her tears rise to the brim. Luckily they did not fall, but a great hunger came up inside Claire and she clung to Bender the whole time his mouth was joined to hers.

Bender's hands roamed up and down her back while Claire's arms held on around his neck.

The feel of Bender's hands made Claire feel safe in a way she had never felt before. It felt like the whole world had faded away and all she was aware of was his mouth on hers, his tongue entwining with hers, the warmth and strength of his body against her and his firm hands on her back.

Never had she felt like this before. Even though it was completely new and alien to her, Claire didn't even care because she loved every second of it.

She couldn't get enough of it…and him.

Soon they were both gasping for air and Bender suddenly placed his hands on her hips and lifted her up onto his lap.

Wrapping his arms around her, Bender felt Claire fully lean against his chest.

"Was I ever that bitchy?" she asked quietly, rubbing her face into the soft material of his shirt, not caring about her makeup. She could always fix it up later.

"You really need to ask that?" he asked, sounding slightly shocked.

Claire gave a small sigh, "I'm a bitch aren't I?"

"Yes you are." Bender replied and quickly Claire sat up and glared at him.

He smiled and continued, "But not a big one. You're not to Bri, Sporto or Alyson. But we have to work on me though."

She blinked at him once before giving an amused smile and nodded.

"Yeah I guess but…" she paused and looked away, feeling very confused and a little hurt.

Bender sensed her troubles and brought her closer against him.

"But what cherry?"

Claire didn't look at him but leant her head back against his chest.

"But I didn't expect everything to change so quickly."

Bender didn't know whether to feel pissed off or supportive but he too couldn't help but feel the same way about today.

He had first seen his friends in shop this morning and they had all made jokes about the rumors that the Bitch Brigade had spread around.

He, of course, had joked back as well but when he had heard Claire stand up to her own group about him and told them to fuck off…

Bender was now feeling rather guilty and he realized that he would have to be brave like Claire and stand up to his friends.

It was something he was not looking forward to.

Claire had noticed his silence and she knew he was keeping quiet for a reason. Her gut feeling was bad but when she sat upright and looked at him, the guilt on his face made her heart clench in terrible confirmation.

"What? What is it?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm as terrible possible answers ran through her head.

Bender saw her confusion and worries on her face and he knew that she had a right to know. But he knew she wasn't going to like it and he could only hope that she wasn't going to scream and freak out like most girls.

"Cherry I haven't told my friends about you." He said simply but guilt clouded his eyes. "I was an asshole this morning and joked with them about the Bitch Brigade's rumors."

Claire felt like she had been slapped hard across the face. She breathed in sharply and her face went with emotion.

_She's gonna freak…_

Bender braced himself for the inevitable bitchy hurt rant he expected, but he was sorely surprised when Claire just nodded slightly and said, "Ok." really quietly.

Slowly Claire shifted and tried to get off Bender's lap but everytime she went to stand, he would just pull her back down. Everytime he did this though, Claire would just try again and again, each time getting more and more pissed off with how annoying he was being.

Finally Bender got her temper to snap after he pulled her back down again for the umpteenth time.

Rage and hurt filled her as she began to struggle against his hold on her arms.

"John let go of me!" she yelled at him, frustrated as hell with him.

"No!" he growled back, just as annoyed with her as she was with him.

Bender's hold around her tightened and Claire knew now there wasn't a hope in hell of her being able to get away from him now.

Still she struggled against him but he just held on until her adrenaline ran out and she was so physically tired that it seemed she didn't have any resistance left.

Claire was puffed out from her exertions but she muttered, "I hate you."

Bender studied her face for a second but couldn't help but smirk slightly.

"No you don't cherry." He replied with such cocky reassurance Claire's annoyed expression turned into the death-stare.

"Why didn't you tell them?!" she demanded, the fight rising again in her voice.

Bender, seeing Claire's anger, knew he would have to answer carefully otherwise she would turn against him forever.

"Because Claire," he said with slight annoyance, "I didn't think you'd have the balls to stand up to your friends if they had seen us together. I needed to see if you were serious about…this…and if you were worth it."

Claire suddenly began raging against his hold on her with all of her strength and she managed to loosen his unprepared grip on her enough that she ripped herself away fro him and jumped off his lap in one fluid motion.

The sight of Claire standing enraged, above him made Bender jump up as well and stand away from her.

"You were seeing if _I _had balls?" she asked angrily, offended at his vulgar expression. "What about you John? If I had the balls to stand up to my friends and you can't, what does that make you?"

Bender didn't reply but Claire saw a dangerous anger appear on his face. It was radiating off him so strongly that Claire felt a small spark of fear, but her own anger drove her on to finish her own question.

"That, John," she seethed, "would make you ball…"

Claire was silenced when Bender stepped forward and clamped his mouth on hers with such force it hurt.

Their anger at each other fused and turned into a rough, raw need of the physical kind that made them completely forget the reason they were mad at each other in the first place.

This pure and utter need was something neither had felt before and they clung to each other with something that came close to desperation.

Claire couldn't help but give a small moan in her throat as she felt every nerve in her body come alive wherever she felt his hands go on her back.

Bender heard her moan and the sound of it made him respond instantly as the urge to feel made his hands roam up and down her back.

He was still in control enough that he wouldn't allow his hands to roam to other places…her chest and breasts for example.

It was too soon for that sort of thing with her anyway…

It was this thought that made Bender remove his lips from her bruised ones and look at her with a slightly exasperated expression.

"Why did you do that?" he asked but Claire was still blown away by her numbingly sensitive body.

"Do what?" she finally asked as she got her body back under control.

"Make me kiss you like that?"

Claire looked at him with a blank expression, "How is it my fault?"

Bender shrugged and found himself focusing on her lips again. He didn't know why but he wanted to kiss her again.

The raw hunger showed on his face and Claire nearly didn't recognize the cocky, smirky, smart-ass guy she had first fallen for.

_God, how do I look like when I'm like that?_

His eyes were dilated and they were so focussed on her lips that he didn't notice Claire slightly inch herself away from him. She didn't get far though with his hands resting quite comfortably on her hips.

Suddenly loud whooping noises came from the football pitch and the entangled pair turned to see the entire football team staring at them.

Seeing the intimidating jocks on the pitch, staring and cheering at them suddenly made Claire draw herself against him and wrapped her arms under his long grey jacket around his waist.

Bender didn't know if she was doing it for show or she genuinely was afraid of them. Quickly glancing down at her, immediately he knew that she was not hugging him for show.

She was seeking security and protection.

Security…he wasn't sure about that, but protection…

"Piss off you fuckers! Do yourself a favour and go and replace some of those muscles with a dick and some brains!" Bender bellowed at the jeering jocks, quickly rendering into silence by his insult.

Nerves caused Claire to hide her face against his shirt and tighten her arms around him. She knew what the football jocks did to people if they got pissed off or if they didn't like a person…

Bender wrapped his arms protectively around Claire and just glared dangerously at the jocks.

They all looked at one another and back at the embraced couple.

Every jock looked at Bender with disgust and hate before turning their backs in unison and walked away from the football grounds.

Bender and Claire were alone once more.

Claire hadn't even noticed the jock's departure for she was still so strung up with nervous tension.

Seeing her still hiding against him made Bender smile. He didn't know why he was smiling but a strong sense of comfort and happiness bubbled in him.

It was her simple action and emotion of needing him to protect her.

Bender realised why he was smiling…

It was because nobody had ever asked that of him…and never had he expected a girl to do it.

And never had expected himself to provide it.

Someone had needed him and he, having never experienced that before, had protected her without a second thought.

He had done something good and right for someone…

And it felt good!

This girl in his arms had made him feel something that was better than smoking dope…and she had managed it only in two days.

_Two days…how much things can change._

Bender quietly sighed and rested his head on top of Claire's soft hair.

"They're gone cherry."

Claire gave a sigh of relief, "Thank god…I can't believe what you said to them."

Bender gave a small chuckle, "I had to say something to those brainless fuckwits that they would understand."

"Thanks." She mumbled quietly.

A warm fulfilling feeling ran through him and Bender knew that he had never felt like about a girl before.

It was fucking terrifying because it had been only two days for Christ's sake!

Suddenly he felt Claire give a small sigh of content and immediately he knew that she was falling for him just as fast.

_Ah shit…_

Whatever it was, it was scary and new but something deep inside him craved it because it felt that Claire was his salvation for everything bad in his life.

_Only time will tell_…he thought blankly, moving his head off hers and burying it at the base of her neck.

Suddenly the siren tolled off in the distance and Bender heard Claire sigh sadly.

"What you got now?" she asked, her face still against his chest.

"Free period. You?" he asked against the side of her neck.

"Hmmm…science I think," she replied before adding sarcastically, "fun."

"You wanna skip?"

His question threw her completely off guard and she tilted her head up to look at him. His expression was completely serious and hope shone bright in his eyes.

_Would I get away with it???  
_

Claire chewed her bottom lip slightly before giving in to temptation.

"Ok."


	11. Chapter 11: Who Feels Like Bowling?

Chapter Eleven: Who Feels Like Bowling?

Bender beamed at her before swooping down and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Claire's being a bad girl." He said approvingly and Claire could not help but blush under his gaze.

"Yeah well, it's not something new." She replied, sounding very bashful.

God he love her reactions around him.

"What ever you say princess." He smiled.

Holding her hand in his, they pulled apart from their embrace and began to slowly walk down the stand's numerous rows of seats.

Upon reaching the bottom they set off across the sports grounds and eventually made their way into the middle of town.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked, gazing at the bustling people that passed them.

"Well…" he drawled and suggestively raised his eyebrows at her, "we could go to this secret place I know and…"

His suggestion was met with a sharp smack on the arm and an unimpressed looking Claire.

"Ha-ha, funny John." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

He just smirked at her and continued walking, overtaking and leading her through the busy street and towards a mall.

"Uh John…" she asked, tugging his hand to get his attention.

Bender looked back at her and followed her expression to the oncoming mall.

"It's a shortcut." He replied simply and began walking again, leading a confused Claire.

"A shortcut to where?"

He smirked, "Cherry that would ruin the surprise."

She sighed and followed his lead, walking through the doors to the huge mall.

They walked through on the bottom floor and Claire, out of habit, glanced around at all of the shops she could see to check it there was a sale on anywhere.

To her dismay there was none…not even in the second handshop.

The mall was packed to brim though none-the-less and Claire had to hold on tight to Bender's hand so she wouldn't lose him.

They safely made it to the other side of the floor and reached the exit door. Right before the door though was a shoe shop with a large display window that show cased numerous types of shoes.

Upon seeing this Claire instantly stopped walking and wandered over to the display, incidentally causing Bender to stop mid-step outside the door and to be dragged backwards to god-knew where.

When he turned around to see where they were, he sighed in irritation and extreme annoyance at seeing the brightly lit display window. Then he noticed the shoes on sale and he stared at them all with an expression that made him want to see them burn.

_You'll never be able to take the want to shop away from her…_

Claire turned her eyes away from the shoes and up to Bender. Seeing his expression, she immediately knew that shopping for shoes wasn't his thing.

"Don't like shoes?" she asked lightly, not wanting to set off his temper.

"No. I've got my boots. Don't need some sort of posh shit leather things that were made in some third world country by an underpaid child worker." He replied, somewhat angrily and annoyed at the same time.

She sighed quietly at his answer and mood. She gazed longingly at the shoes one last time and turned herself away from the shop. She began to walk towards the nearby exit and started to lead Bender away.

The suddenness of being pulled backwards once again made Bender give a small sound of surprise and annoyance. But he still followed Claire's lead and suddenly the bright harsh lights of the mall disappeared and the soft natural light of day hit his eyes.

Everything dimmed slightly as his eyes adjusted to the change of light. Both of them stopped walking to allow some time to adjust.

"Fucking mall lights." Bender growled, rubbing his eyes with both of his hands after letting go of Claire's hand.

"They're not that bad!" she murmured as she rubbed her own eyes.

When her vision cleared and adjusted, Claire saw Bender staring at her with disbelief.

"Ok. They're fucking annoying," she added, frustrated, just saying it to get him to stop looking at her like that.

He didn't change his expression and Claire really couldn't stand it. She muttered under her breath, "Boys." and continued walking without him.

She had no idea where in the hell she was going but as long as he wasn't looking at her like that she didn't' care.

Bender didn't follow her retreating form but he smiled in amusement when Claire came to a stop a couple of meters away from where he was standing.

"Know where you're going Claire?" he asked innocently but she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"No smart-ass I don't." she replied crossly, turning around to look at him.

Bender grinned even more at her and Claire just glared at him, not in the mood for his attitude.

"Don't shove your head too far up your ass Claire otherwise I just might not show you where I was going to take you." He said, sounding very innocent but there was a tone of seriousness that made Claire calm down immediately.

"Sorry." She said and gave him an apologetic look.

Bender took a few steps and stopped in front of her and said nothing.

Claire began to worry that maybe she had offended him really badly.

But he spoke.

"I reckon I might need a little bit more convincing than that cherry."

For a second she didn't understand but when she saw his focus slide onto her lips, Claire blushed deeply.

Taking this as an answer Bender leant forward and kissed her gently on the mouth.

On and on it went until he finally pulled away, satisfied and grinning at her once more.

"C'mon cherry." He said softly as he took her hand again and they began walking.

It took only a few more minutes of walking but Claire found herself looking at a bowling alley she didn't even know existed.

Her shock was evident on her face and proud pleasure ran through Bender as they continued walking.

"Welcome to my second home." He said proudly as they walked thorough the double doors and into the bowling alley centre.

"Shit…" she said in amazement at the size of the place.

Twenty bowling alleys, lined up side by side, spanned across the entire centre. Only half of the lanes were being used and Claire came to the conclusion that is was because it was mid-afternoon.

Those who were playing though were high school kids who were obviously skipping school just like her…

But they all seemed to know Bender.

Whenever he walked past someone they would smile and say 'hey' and he would reply 'hey' back.

Even the old guy at the registration desk knew him when they approached it.

The old mad, whom had a nametag with 'Rob' on it, smiled at both Bender and Claire.

"Hey kids, want a lane?" he asked in a friendly voice and Claire immediately liked him.

"Yeah Rob. You reckon you could hook us up with one?" Bender asked, secretly surprising Claire with how nice and casual he sounded.

Rob nodded, "Sure thing Bender and," he said before turning to look and beaming at Claire, "this your girl?"

Bender glanced at Claire who shrugged slightly, signifying it was his call to tell or not.

"Yeah, she's my girl." He said grinning at Rob.

Claire smiled at Rob who just beamed at her even more.

"'Bout time he got himself a nice girl." Rob said cheekily, winking at Claire while Bender just shook his head and grinned.

"Rob, stop charming the lady and fix us up with a lane." Bender said, smiling and laughing slightly.

The old man's eyes twinkled as he nodded and was about to set off when suddenly he asked Claire what shoe size she was.

She looked at him, puzzled but Bender stepped in and said, "I'll help her Rob."

Rob gave a little chuckle and set off to get things ready, leaving Bender and Claire alone again.

"Why does he want to know my shoe size?" Claire asked, still confused.

Bender gave her a small smirk as he led her around the side of the desk. Rows of bowling shoes lay there and suddenly it all clicked for Claire.

"Oh…" she said, very embarrassed.

Bender let go of her hand and began scouring the rows for his favourite pair of shoes, leaving Claire to begin her own search.

She skipped the children's section and the men's section. Soon she found the women's section of shoes and began to go through every pair, checking to see if there was one in her own size.

Because none of the shoes were catalogued into sizes, it took her well over five minutes to find a decent pair in her size…and colour. By the time she had taken off her own shoes and put on the bowling ones, Bender had already put on his shoes, chosen his bowling ball and was at the lane waiting for her.

When she finally came and sat down on a chair at the table, she saw that Bender had even written their name on the scorecard.

But Bender wasn't at the table or lane anymore.

Claire looked around and couldn't see him anywhere.

She was beginning to get worried when suddenly two hands landed heavily on her shoulders, making her jump and give a small girlish squeal.

The two hands on her shoulders made her spin around to face their owner and Claire suddenly found herself nose to nose with a smirking Bender.

"You asshole!" she yelled and slapped him on the arm.

He wouldn't let go and Claire just continued to glare at him, silently cursing him for scaring her so badly.

"Get over it princess." He replied smartly.

He released her shoulders and reached over to the rack beside the alley that held his huge, black bowling ball.

Claire watched his movements but a bright violet ball that was sitting next to his made her gasp in surprise.

"You got me this?" she asked happily, turning to Bender who was now holding his chosen ball.

He smirked, gave a shrug then suddenly hurtled himself towards the lane. He released the ball with such power and accuracy that it flew down the lane and smashed into the pins with a force that made them all instantly fall to the ground in a broken heap.

It was a strike.

Bender, smugly, turned around and grinned at the shell-shocked Claire whose mouth was hanging open.

Without saying anything, he came over and sat down next to Claire on. He put a big fat 'X' on the scorecard under his name and leant back in the seat, waiting for Claire to go and have her turn.

Claire stood up, reached over for her bowling ball and inserted her two fingers and thumb into the designated holes, not really worried about her manicured hands. Slowly she walked up to the alley and stood there for a few seconds, concentrating on her stance and strength.

Just as she was about to swing her arm to release the ball, Bender's voice spoke loudly, "Five bucks says you get a gutter ball!"

Anger flared within her as she muttered, "You're on."

She released the ball with as much strength as she could muster and it sailed down the alley in a straight line. Claire watched with anticipation as it collided with the newly laid pins with a satisfying 'clunk' and sent them sprawling.

She cheered when she saw that only two pins were left and, turning back to Bender, said, "Where's my five dollars?"

Bender gave her an annoyed flick with his head, causing it to fall and cover his face. Claire just grinned and turned to collect her bowling ball from the conveyor belt chute right next to the alley.

She stepped back up to the alley and lined herself with the remaining two pins and released the ball.

Claire crossed her fingers and bit her lip hard as she watched the ball roll down the alley.

With a miracle, the ball hit the two remaining pins and knocked them clean over.

Claire gave a squeal of excitement and turned on the spot to look at Bender, smiling so hard it hurt her cheeks.

He was trying hard to look unfazed at her result, but her excitement was infectious and soon he was grinning at her too.

She walked over and placed her score down on the card when suddenly her stomach grumbled loudly and Claire realised for the first time that she was starving.

"You hungry princess?" Bender asked surprised, a little concerned with how empty her stomach sounded.

"I haven't eaten since breakfast." She replied guiltily when she saw his surprised face turn into one of concern.

"Claire is it because of me saying that you had a fat girl's name?"

Seeing Bender looking, and sounding, so guilty like it had been his own fault she hadn't eaten made Claire instantly go over to him and hug him.

"No, it's not your fault." She said softly while Bender pulled her onto his lap and buried his head against his neck.

Claire had never expected Bender to ever be like this with girls. She had always thought he would simply screw her a girl and then that was it, that girl would just be another picture in his wallet that he would call up whenever he wanted to hang out with them again. But with her he thrived off hugs, kisses and handing and small touches of ownership.

Care and comfort.

The two words rang clear in her mind.

No emotional or physical care and comfort from someone that cared for him.

_But now he's got me…_

Even though it had been two days since Saturday, Claire felt a strong need and bond with Bender. It felt like that she could be herself and he would do the exact thing, be that guy in the closet when it had just been the two of them.

Maybe their detention on Saturday had been…fate?

_Yeah whatever…_Claire thought with a smirk at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

Claire felt Bender nuzzle his nose against her throat and give a small sigh of content.

Suddenly her stomach growled again, breaking the spell of rare tenderness and Bender immediately moved his head away from her neck and raised his emotional barrier against the world.

The wall that, only seconds ago, Claire had managed to breach.

"You need to eat cherry." He said.

She nodded in agreement and got off his lap. Reaching down for her bag and slinging it over her shoulder in one fluid motion, she gazed back at Bender.

"What you going to have?" she asked.

He just shrugged and Claire immediately knew he had had no lunch either…and that he had nothing to eat for lunch.

"Is there any food shops nearby?" she asked, trying really hard not to let the sadness of his situation to show on her face.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Where?"

Bender pointed to the exit doors with a smirk, "Through there cherry if my memory serves me right."

Claire rolled her eyes and turned away but a small thought suddenly occurred to her. Quickly she turned back to face him with a curious expression, "How come we didn't have to pay for the game?"

Bender smiled at her, "Cause I work here part time." He said, making it sound so obvious that Claire felt like an idiot for asking.

"Should have seen that one." She said, smiling at him.

He just shrugged and smirked innocently, if there is such a thing.

Claire turned and walked out of the bowling alley centre in search for some hot food to buy for lunch.

Food that she was determined to share with Bender…

Even if she had to force feed him herself.


	12. Chapter 12: Caught

_Chapter Twelve: Caught_

Claire returned ten minutes later with two plastic bags and a proud smile.

"The triumphant returns." Bender said when he saw her enter through the bowling alley doors.

She walked to their scoring table and sat on a chair next to him. The instant she placed the bags on the floor, Bender leant over and picked them up to inspect what was inside.

The heavenly waft of fish and chips hit his nose and Bender's mouth began to water. In the other bag were two bottles of coke and some napkins.

Claire reached to get the bag with the chips but Bender pulled it out of her reach and gave her a smirk.

"You going to share princess?"

She briefly glared at him, "Well I was but you aren't sharing."

Bender, still smirking, slowly reached towards her with the bag and she took it from him, slightly surprised by how easy he was giving it back.

And so they had lunch.

For an hour they ate, drank, laughed, and continued their game.

It was the best time Claire had ever had in her life.

Unfortunately it had to end and it did when Claire released her bowling ball for the final time and watched it roll down the alley and knocking over the final four pins.

The final score was Bender defeating her by fifty.

But Claire didn't mind.

Someone started clapping and Claire immediately knew it was Bender. She looked at him, still sitting on the chair beside the scoring table. He had both feet resting on the table and he was clapping, but he looked genuinely happy.

"Well done Claire. You did better than what I was expecting."

Claire smiled and shrugged a little before walking over to sit next to him.

"I wasn't expecting to do so well." She admitted and Bender just nodded, grinning at her honesty and humbleness.

"Next time though…" he said and stood up.

"Next time?" Claire asked, interrupting Bender and looking at him with a confused expression.

Bender sighed with frustration.

_Why does she have to question everything?_

"Yeah next time." He answered.

Before he gave her a chance to say anything, Bender turned around and began walking towards the exit doors. Walking past registration desk, he looked at Rob and said, "Later," with a smile and disappeared out of the door.

Claire quickly grabbed her bag and rushed after him, but waved at Rob before she disappeared out of the doors to.

Outside Bender was walking more slowly and she quickly caught up with him.

He had a blank expression on his face and he didn't even acknowledge her when she looked at him.

_Good one Claire…what have I done to you John?_

They walked back through the mall shortcut in silence. Claire didn't even glance at the shoe store's window.

He didn't even complain or growl about the change in lights when they stepped outside and back onto the bustling street.

Neither made any attempt of conversation as they walked the several blocks back to school.

Bender didn't even know why he was returning but he felt it was his duty or something to make sure she got back safely.

But why was he going back the whole way?

Stopping in the middle of the street Claire bumped straight into his back, giving a muffled 'oof'.

The force of walking into him made Claire feel a little dizzy when she took half a step back. She rubbed her sore nose and studied the back of Bender.

"Why'ja stop?" she asked, sounding weird because she was still rubbing her slightly squished nose.

Bender turned and looked at her with a mixed expression of anger and shock.

"Why the hell am I walking back to school?"

His question made Claire realize that John Bender had been returning to school in his free unconsciously, willingly.

"I…" she began but her voice trailed off.

Claire didn't know either.

"Claire why would _I _be going back to school?" he asked, sounding angrier than confused.

Something suddenly occurred to Claire and she looked at him with fearful realization, "Because I'm going back to school."

Fury suddenly ran through him and he found himself unable to say anything else to her.

Without so much as a syllable, he turned away from Claire and stormed into a nearby side alley separating several buildings.

Claire paused for a second, thinking whether she should follow him or not, when suddenly she saw a recognizable dark black-grey head of hair across the street from her.

Even though he had his back to her, Claire recognized the profile pf Richard Vernon.

"Oh fuck!" she hissed through her teeth as she bolted into the side alley after Bender.

Hoping to god that Vernon hadn't seen her.

She raced in-between the buildings, searching frantically for Bender so she could warn him.

Soon a wisp of cigarette smoke hit her nose. Claire followed it and found Bender around the next corned, sitting on the ground and having a cigarette.

The instant he saw her, he looked away but Claire didn't have time for this moodiness.

"John I just saw Vernon!" she exclaimed, very worried and scared.

His moody expression suddenly changed to one of fear, "What???"

Seeing his fear, Claire looked at him with confusion, "Why should it matter fro you? You're on a free."

When he didn't reply to confirm this, Claire instantly realized that he had lied to her about having a free.

"If I get caught I'm gonna be thrown out for good." He said, now worried and scared about what his ol' man was going to do if that happened.

Claire sensed what he was thinking and it suddenly occurred to her what she had to do.

It was going to mean another Saturday detention…but it was going to be worth it.

Bender had noticed her face set into one of resolve and action and he had no idea why.

"We're screwed." He said.

He sounded so sad and defeated that Claire couldn't believe the guy sitting on the ground was Bender.

"John Bender." She said sharply and he immediately looked up at her. "You will not get expelled."

She turned and began walking away without a second glance at him.

She made her way back to the entrance of the side alley and stood there. Looking around for Vernon, she instantly saw him and she gulped nervously.

He still had his back turned to her but now he was on the same side of the street.

Standing only a few meters away from her, Claire went to take a step into the street but suddenly two strong arms seized her from behind and began to drag her backwards.

Claire immediately began fighting against her captor but suddenly a gloved hand clamped itself over her mouth and muffled her protests.

"Shut up cherry! Do you want to lead him straight to us?!" Bender hissed in her ear.

She instantly relaxed against him at the sound of his voice, but they suddenly heard familiar heavy footsteps rapidly approaching them.

Claire wriggled out of his arms and quickly looked around for a hiding spot.

A large dumpster container nearby caught her eye but she was quickly dismayed when she saw the space behind it was big enough for one person.

She didn't even pause for a second when she grabbed Bender's arm and pulled him over to the spot. Forcing him to sit down behind it, hidden from view, Claire had moved so fast that it had taken only three seconds… 

But that was all that it took for Vernon to reach the alleyway and enter it.

The instant he saw her, he smiled and cruelly at Claire.

"Well, well, well Miss Standish. I do believe that you are meant to be at school in class at the moment."

Claire didn't reply but she swallowed nervously.

"And that means young lady you are skipping class again," he continued, "I was sent to scout for students like you who can't quit this bad habit."

"That means that now I have to escort you back to school to see the principal." He added harshly and gave her a serious expression, trying to make her feel guilt.

His ploy didn't work though as Claire shrugged with true 'Bender-style' and walked out of the alleyway.

Just before disappearing out of view, she snuck a glace back at the dumpster which was still concealing Bender. Half of his face was partially visible as she looked at him.

Their eyes locked and she was too far away to risk saying anything to him, so she gave him a secret smile before disappearing from view.


	13. Chapter 13: The End Of A Long Day

_Chapter Thirteen: The End of a Long Day_

Claire ended up getting two Saturday detentions and it was only the thought that Bender was going to be there and it wasn't him in trouble, which prevented her from regretting her decision.

She had to ring her parents at the principal's office and tell them her actions and the results of them.

Her mum and dad had sounded so disappointed when she had spoken to each of them, but they had just thought it had been an act of rebellion from the divorce news.

They spoke to the principal and told him about the divorce too. The principal's attitude towards Claire instantly changed to one of sympathy as he also joined the bandwagon of thinking that Claire's skipping class had been from rebellion and shock.

Throughout the entire interrogation, Claire had not spoken once about Bender or the bowling alley. Her thoughts kept on wandering back to Bender's eyes in the alleyway. She couldn't help but think about what he had been thinking and where he could be now.

Eventually she was released from the principal's questions and he had given her a card for the school's councilor if she ever felt the need to talk to someone.

The corridor was empty and Claire sighed quietly before trudging off in the direction of her locker.

The bell for the end of the last period rang loudly and Claire heard the shuffling of students getting out of their chairs, picking up their books and pushing in their chairs.

All of the doors in the corridors burst open and students began piling out very fast. In seconds they engulfed Claire.

She didn't fight back from the constant shoving and pushing from the passing crowds. Claire just kept her eyes on the ground and walked back to her locker.

Last week she would have expected Mary Smith and the rest of the group to be standing there, waiting for her, but another gang was waiting there instead.

Alyson, Andy and Brian were all there waiting for her.

Seeing those three suddenly right there made Claire break into a smile.

The Breakfast Club was still there for her.

"Hey Claire." They all said in unison with smiles on their faces.

"Hey." She replied.

The three exchanged an awkward look and Andy stepped towards the Claire.

"We heard what happened today…" he began carefully, unsure as how she was going to react, "that you told your group to fuck off and that you were down at the football grounds with Bender and…" he took a breath, "you skipped again downtown."

Claire blinked and nodded, "Yeah I did but…"

She bit her lip and stopped, unsure whether or not to tell the truth as to why she had skipped.

They looked at her expectantly and Claire knew she had to tell them.

"I was with John."

Her sentence caused mixed reactions within the group.

Andrew looked at her with understanding and shock, Alyson was smiling mysteriously as if she knew it had been to happen, and Brian was just gaping at her with his mouth open.

"Claire you skipped school _again_?" Brian asked in a state of great shock.

Claire smiled at him, "John asked and I said yes. See. Simple as that."

Brian's shock still hadn't abated so Andy stepped in.

"Hang on Claire. You said Bender asked you? And you said yes?" he asked, confused and slightly wondering he had misheard her.

Alyson had heard correctly and she sidled up to Andy and gently clasped one of his hands with her own. He instantly turned his head to look at her but Alyson was looking solely at Claire with an understanding look that made Claire realize that Alyson would have done exactly what she did if Andy had asked her.

"You took the fall for John Bender and saved him." Alyson said quietly, instantly causing Brian and Andrew to look at her with confusion.

Suddenly they both looked at Claire as it finally occurred to them just what she had done for Bender.

An uncomfortable silence descended and Claire began to fiddle slightly with her bag strap.

She really couldn't stand having the three of them looking at her like that…

She was beginning to feel guilty for doing it but Claire's resolve for her actions won through with a fiery flash of strength.

Staring at all three of them with a hard expression she said, "Ok. Fine. Yes I took the fall for John. I protected him from Vernon and got two Saturday's for it. I don't give a shit though because I know I did the right thing. If I hadn't protected him, he would've been caught and expelled and I…" she growled but suddenly paused for a second to catch breath, "I couldn't have allowed that to happen when I could have done something to prevent it."

Andrew and Brian nodded wordlessly in shock but Alyson just smiled at Claire.

"I knew the Bitch Brigade's rumors were true." She said approvingly.

Claire stared at her in confusion, "What?"

"It was only a matter of time till you and John got together after Saturday." Alyson explained, smiling as she did. "A criminal and a princess. Two opposite personalities, two different levels in society, the two people drawn together against all odds."

Now Brian and Andy looked were looking at her with confused expressions.

Alyson looked awkwardly at Claire, who couldn't help but smile at her friend's explanation.

"Do you know what happens at the end of the tale?" Claire asked.

Alyson smiled sadly at Claire and shook her head, "They might live happily ever after of they separate and both die of broken hearts."

Claire paled at this, "It there any other options than that?"

Andy, Brian and Alyson laughed and Claire couldn't help but join them.

Quickly she grabbed what she needed from her locker and shut it. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, the four friends began walking down the corridor, talking and laughing about the things that had happened today.

Eventually they made it outside and Andy and Alyson said goodbye before walking away hand in hand.

Brian glanced shyly at Claire before he began to ask her if tomorrow she wanted to sit with him and Alyson and Andrew in the cafeteria for lunch.

Claire immediately went to say yes but she paused when she saw a figure in a long grey coat standing under a tree across the road.

She looked back at Brian, "It all depends on John," she said uncertainly but added, "but I would love to."

Brian glanced at the figure across the road and smiled at her. "Go see him Claire and tell him I said hi."

Claire smiled back and said, "See you tomorrow Brian." She turned away and began to walk an emotionally harrowing walk across the road.

As she walked closer and closer to Bender, Claire got more and more nervous. She couldn't help but wonder and worry about what he was going to do when she reached him.

She really hoped he wasn't going to get cross at her for giving herself up for him. Claire knew that if he did get cross at her she would cry. She knew his annoyance at crying but hopefully it wasn't going to happen.

Finally Claire reached him.

Bender looked at her with such uncertainty and emotion Claire couldn't even read what he was feeling.

"Hey," she said quietly, attempting a small smile but failing miserably when Bender didn't even answer.

He just kept on looking at her with the same expression.

Claire finally broke, "Ok I sorry alright? I'm sorry for giving myself up when you could have been caught too."

Bender still didn't answer.

"I couldn't…" Claire started but struggled to find the right words, "I couldn't let Vernon catch you only to get you expelled." She hung her head, "I couldn't bear you to go when I could have stopped it and protected you."

Bender gazed down at her bent head and his emotional barrier smashed open with warm feeling so powerful he felt like he was going to burst.

He suddenly wrapped his arms around her and crushed her against him. He buried himself against her as if trying to get into her very pores. Bender lifted Claire off the ground and held her with such strength she couldn't believe it.

She could feel his face pressed against her neck, as if seeking some form of protection and comfort. Claire wrapped her arms around him, which caused Bender's grip around her to increase, making it slightly difficult to breathe.

Deciding against making a protest about it, she just held him.

"Why did you do it?" he sighed heavily against her throat.

"Because I had to." She said simply, running a hand through his longish hair when she heard the emotional conflict in his voice.

"Fair enough…" he replied before smirking, "I never expected a princess to protect a criminal like me."

Claire leant her head onto his shoulder and smiled, "Neither did I but you once protected a princess like me."

"That is fucked up." He agreed, sounding happier as he nuzzled his nose against her neck.

She sighed contentedly at the feeling, "I love the feel of that."

Bender did it again, smirking, "Really?"

He kept on doing it, over and over, which made Claire feel like she was on cloud nine.

"Yes I do…I'm entitled for rewards for saving you from Vernon."

Bender grinned wickedly and replaced his nose on her neck with his mouth. The effect he wanted was immediate as Claire involuntary tightened against him.

He softly kissed the side of her neck and when she sighed deeply he knew that she liked his kissing more than the nuzzling.

"Cherry likes neck kisses." He murmured softly in her ear.

Claire turned her face and looked at him.

They looked at each other in silence before Bender quietly said, "Thanks Claire."

The look they shared slowly grew too intense with emotion and they both leaned in for a long awaited kiss.

The kiss was not one of fierce need or desire; instead it was a soft one of comfort, care and casualness that felt like they had been together for a long time and not two short days.

Eventually Bender pulled back, placed Claire back on the ground and looked at her with a tender expression.

"I've gotta go Claire."

She smiled understandingly, although slightly sad, and nodded.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked.

His answer was a quick peck on the lips, a smirk and a wink.

"Sure thing cherry."

Claire beamed at him and he began to walk away.

Suddenly she turned back to him and yelled at his retreating form, "I got two Saturdays!"

Bender immediately swung around and stared at Claire off in the distance. He was speechless for a second before grinning at her.

"You'll be having me for company then!"' he yelled back and turned away again, walking off into the distance.

Claire watched him till he disappeared and she made her way back to the other side of the road. She sat on the sidewalk and waited for her father to come pick her up.

Because it was a Monday he wouldn't come for a little while longer…but she would wait patiently.

It had been a long day.


	14. Chapter 14: Rest of the Week, Arguments

_Chapter Fourteen: Rest of the Week and Arguments_

And so the rest of the week went by.

Most days Claire, Bender, Andy, Alyson and Brian hung out together in the cafeteria for lunch. None of them were bothered by the constant staring and rumors about why there were all suddenly friends and hanging out in a group. Everybody saw them as the biggest groups of misfits in the school.

Even the teachers noticed the new group of friends.

Richard Vernon had immediately suspected that it was all Bender's doing, that he had brainwashed the four others into hanging around with the other potheads. But when Vernon saw that on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunchtimes that Bender wasn't even with the other potheads but in the cafeteria with the Breakfast Club or with Claire at the football grounds, he couldn't believe it himself.

Andy and Alyson made their relationship become public and immediately the wrestling team gave them shit about it. By Thursday though Andy had threatened his team, coach and dad that he would quit the team if they didn't just get over themselves and stay out of his personal life.

Brian had thrived off his new friends over the week. He was much happier at school and shop didn't seem like a burden with Bender in his class. Bender had helped him rebuild his elephant for reassessment and Brian had managed to get a B-. Although Brian had now become Bender's private tutor for bottom math.

Out of everyone though, it was Claire and Bender who seemed to have bloomed the most during the week, although they had had their own drawbacks along the way.

Bender finally faced his friends and told them about Claire. They gave him so much shit about it that he ended up losing his temper and putting them all back in their place by laying a punch or two on them. Just as a reminder that he was still the biggest badass in the whole school. 

Claire had completely stopped talking to Mary Smith and the rest of the popular group. She didn't even look at them anymore whenever they walked past or if they were in the same class as her.

Claire Standish was no longer popular nor was she going to become Prom Queen and she really was past caring. She had John Bender and that was more than enough to compensate for her social loss.

Everyday they had made out, talked, hugged and everything wonderful in-between.

As perfect though everything seemed, they had also fought everyday as well. Claire had never expected that having John Bender as a boyfriend would be easy, but she had never thought that it would be as hard as it was sometimes.

On Tuesday they had fought about the confrontation between Bender and his friends. Wednesday's argument had been about Bender wanting to copy her assignment for History and him refusing her help when she offered help for him to write his own. During Thursday it had been Claire's fault when she growled at him for ruffling her hair for fun.

It had been Friday's argument though that had been the biggest…and the worst.

&&&

On Friday afternoon in History Bender was doodling on Claire's pencil case, board with the day's lesson.

Claire looked at his graffiti and instantly anger filled her. Her mood sunk to an all time low of annoyance and anger for him, but Claire didn't show any of it.

In silence she copied the notes off the board and completely ignored Bender's desecration on her pencil case.

He carefully noted her discreet ignorance of his actions and he was really surprised that she hadn't yelled at him yet.

Normally she would have growled at him and they would have fought, but it seemed she was deliberately ignoring him…

"I'm not going to fight you." She whispered quietly out of the corner of her mouth.

Immediately he stopped doodling and looked fully at her with the utmost confusion.

"What?" he asked quietly, "What are you on about?"

Claire stopped writing and looked directly at him.

"I'm not going to fight with you." She repeated quietly. "You're drawing on my pencil case and I am not going to fight with you about it."

Bender just raised an eyebrow and gave a slight shrug as he began drawing on the innocent pencil case again.

"Whatever cherry." He drawled quietly.

She fumed in silence but would not allow her temper to break. She couldn't understand what was with him but it was really pissing her off that he didn't even seem to care about her personal belongings.

But it was Bender and Claire knew of his love of fiddling and destroying things.

"Whatever cherry." She absently mimicked back, not caring that Bender glared at her.

They didn't speak for the rest of the lesson but that didn't stop them from secretly glaring at each other.

Claire had stormed out the second the bell went and Bender promptly followed her all the way to her locker.

He stood in silence and watched her as she got her books. Her movements were stiff and she slammed everything around.

Boy oh boy was she pissed off…

Claire slammed her locker with a satisfying 'CLUNK!' and she turned around to Bender, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

Bender's left eye twitched slightly and Claire immediately knew that something wasn't good.

She suddenly got a fright when Bender slammed both of his palms onto the locker on either side of Claire. She found herself leaning against the lockers, trapped and probably going to regret pissing him off.

Bender glared at her in silence as Claire gulped, now slightly nervous.

"You're pissed cause I drew my art on your precious pencil case." He growled loudly, his voice rumbling with anger. "But you couldn't even talk to me about it."

She stared defiantly at him as she replied, "Cause I knew we'd fight about it like we do with everything else."

Bender looked at her, now slightly exasperated, "So you'd rather harbor pissy feelings towards me than want to fight with me? What the hell is with that Claire?!"

Claire made a small attempt to maneuver herself out from under his arms, but Bender was going to have none of it. With one fluid movement he placed both hands on her shoulders and pressed his body against her.

Keeping her completely imprisoned against the lockers.

She glared up at him, "You're so immature!"

"Well Claire at least I'm not being a total bitch!"

Bender was now glaring back at her and Claire began to hurt inside, knowing that she was the reason they were fighting…once again.

Why couldn't she just keep her big mouth shut?

"I'm sorry, I don't want to fight." She said quietly, no longer glaring.

Bender's expression slightly softened, but not by much.

"Then why didn't you say something in History?"

The anger was still there in his voice and Claire just sighed.

"Because I knew we would fight anyway."

He looked blankly at her, "We fight a lot don't we."

It was a statement not a question, and Claire couldn't help but look away and nod sadly.

"Yeah we do." She agreed, sounding very sad.

Her face fell when she looked into his eyes and saw bad news.

_Oh shit, he's gonna breakup with me…_

Tears suddenly began to prickle at the back of her eyes at this thought and Claire hastily blinked them away in hope that they would disappear.

But he still saw them.

"Why are you going to cry cherry?" he asked with sudden concern and care.

Claire blinked again and the tears disappeared. She had not been expecting the care and concern in his voice, but she had expected he would have laughed openly in her face and given her shit.

"Because it sounds like you're going to…" she started but found she couldn't continue as her throat suddenly closed up with emotion. Instead she looked away from his probing eyes and gushed quietly as the tears rose in her eyes, "It sounds like you're going to break up with me."

Bender looked at the teary princess in his arms, trapped against the lockers, at his mercy and with one word he could break her into a million pieces. He had never been in this sort of position with a girl before, so he didn't know what to say…but he knew what he could do.

Bending his head down, he kissed her gently on the cheek, causing Claire to give a small smile although she wouldn't look at him. Slowly he kissed from her ear, along her jaw line towards her mouth.

When he reached it, Claire allowed him to kiss her and her sadness and tears away.

With every sweet kiss he gave her, the more he convinced her that he was not going to break up with her over something as small as this argument.

By the time they stopped, all was forgiven because this had been how they had solved all of their arguments this week.

Kiss and make up.

Claire wrapped her arms around Bender's neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm so sorry," she apologized and Bender just hugged her in return.

"Don't worry cherry, this argument was a walk in the park compared to what I normally get at home." He replied with a degree of grimness in his voice at the mention of his home life.

Claire hugged him extra hard.

Eventually they separated and said goodbye, before going their own ways.

Bender called out to Claire, "See ya tomorrow cherry." And she just waved back and smile.

Knowing that their budding relationship was safe, she was confident that tomorrow was going to be very interesting indeed.


	15. Chapter 15: Saturday Morning

Chapter Fifteen: Saturday Morning

Claire arrived at school on Saturday morning ten minutes early in hope that she might see Bender.

But he wasn't there.

The school doors were still locked and no one was about, so Claire sat on the school steps out front.

Vernon arrived five minutes later and opened the doors without looking at Claire. He entered the building and Claire didn't know whether or not to follow but she decided to wait an extra minute or two outside.

Just in case if she saw Bender.

Her wait was not in vain what she saw his familiar silhouette appear off in the distance past the trees.

But he wasn't alone.

A tall, willowy, beautiful girl was walking beside him, smoking a cigarette. He had his arm around her shoulder and she had an arm around his waist. They were so engrossed with a conversation that they didn't see Claire as they walked closer to the school.

Before they were in close distant to the road, Claire turned and fled into the school, tears rising in her eyes as terrible possibilities ran through her head.

She had recognized that girl from one of the numerous photos in Bender's wallet. That girl was one of Bender's many available girlfriends and by the time Claire reached the library she was so close to sobbing it was hard to breathe.

Before entering she had collected herself enough to form a blank expression on her face that didn't show any of her distress and hurt, although her red rimmed eyes slightly game the game away if you looked closely enough.

Walking inside the door, she looked around and saw that Vernon was the only one inside the room.

"Welcome back Miss Standish." He said sternly and watched as Claire walked to the farthest desk away and sat herself down in the exact spot that Alyson had sat in a week before.

She didn't reply and placed her bag underneath her chair. She placed her arms on top of the desk before resting her head on top of them.

Claire closed her eyes as she heard the library door open and familiar heavy leather boot covered footsteps walked in.

Bender surveyed the whole in a second, saw Claire at the back desk by herself, noticed Dick glaring at hi with the usual smarminess and asshole-like face, and that there was no one else around.

He turned towards Vernon with an assured half-smile, "Just us three today Dick?"

Vernon's nostrils flared slightly and Bender fully smirked at him.

Today was gonna be testy for ol' Dick.

"Sit down Bender." Vernon growled in his 'I-will-not-ask-again' voice.

Bender knew it was too early for Vernon to lose his temper with him, so he shrugged innocently.

"Whatever you say Dick." He said, hands up in mock defense.

Bender began walking to the desk where Claire was sitting, but Vernon abruptly yelled, "Bender you shall sit up the front and shall not say so much as one syllable to Miss Standish here. Understood?"

Bender turned and glared at Vernon, but he bit his tongue hard to stop him from yelling back and having to spend hours in the closet again.

"Crystal," he drawled slowly, repeating what he had said last week, before making his way to the very front desk.

Vernon instantly became very suspicious of Bender's behavior. Why wasn't John making more of a ruckus, or complaining, or just being a total shit of a kid?

Deciding not to say anything though, he watched as Bender slowly walked towards the front desk.

Claire had opened her eyes when Vernon had spoken to Bender and she had watched his back as he walked to the front.

There was something not quite right with the way he was walking though…

_Oh my god! He's limping!_

Claire watched in horror as she studied his body language and saw how stiff and slow he was walking.

Claire knew he was in a lot of pain and even Vernon knew something was off when he looked at him more closely, also studying his movements.

"You ok John?" Vernon asked sarcastically, thinking that the little shit was just putting on an act.

Bender spun around to Vernon and looked infuriated.

"Fuck off Dick!" he yelled and made a swift motion with his head that caused him to catch Claire's eye.

Claire gasped out loud when she saw the fresh dark black bruise that circled his right eye. His face had been subjected to a serious beating and she could see the bruises traveling down his neck and out of sight under his shirt.

Vernon's eyes widened at Bender's injuries and his anger at Bender's rudeness disappeared in an instant.

"What happened Bender?" Vernon asked in shock.

Bender sent killing looks at him, "Wouldn't ya like to know Dick."

Vernon watched, still speechless, as Bender turned on the spot and limped all the way to the front desk before sitting himself down.

Bender glared at the library door and didn't even look at Vernon as he walked to the front of the library.

"Today, you two, will be spent sitting here in complete silence so you can reflect on what you've done that resulted in you getting here." He growled but his gaze settled on Claire instead of an already seething Bender. "Whether you can get it into you thick skulls or not is to be seen, but I'll be outside this door," he pointed to the library door for emphasis, "and if I hear one noise I'll be coming in and cracking skulls."

Vernon looked sternly at the both of them, turned around and walked out of the library door, shutting it behind him for the lost screw had not yet been replaced yet.

Seeing the door shut cause an uncomfortable silence to second in the library.

Claire glanced at Bender's still back and had fully expected him to turn around and look at her.

But he nothing at all.

He didn't even drum his fingers on the desk or whistle a tune or…

Nothing.

Wearily she glanced at the library door, half-expecting Vernon to open it at any second. She decided though it was worth moving from her seat to go to Bender.

Something was wrong with him. He was bruised and had been beaten up and he hadn't moved or said anything since Vernon had left them.

Claire stealthily got out of the chair and slowly walked towards Bender's desk. Nerves began to build within her but Claire wouldn't allow them to affect her. Last week she would never have had the courage, nor cared like she did now, to confront Bender and his problems, so she knew she was just going to have to be brave and daring.

_Brave and daring? Me? Whatever…_

She slid herself onto the chair next to him and studied the side of his face.

Claire's heart ached with sadness and concern at the black and purple bruises that covered his skin.

Words would not come to her though as Bender saw her out of the corner of his eye. Immediately he turned his head away so she couldn't see his face. He couldn't bear getting pity from anyone, especially Claire, but it hadn't looked like pity in her eyes.

He refused to allow his head to turn back and look ay her. He would get out of his seat and walk away if he wasn't so fucking sore.

Bender shut his eyes as he felt the familiar burning tears appear. His ol' man sure had done a fucking good job at smashing him up this time round. All Bender had done was drink the last beer in the fridge because there had been nothing else to drink.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his bruised ribs and Bender steeled himself against the familiar pain.

Claire saw his whole body suddenly stiffen in his seat and she couldn't imagine the pain he must have been feeling or what was causing it.

Carefully she reached down with her hand under the desk and rested it over his clenched fist.

Immediately his hand grasped hers. He crushed it in his strong grip as pain was still soaring through him.

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the agonizing pain dulled back to a tolerable level once more.

Bender exhaled deeply as he regained control once more of his body and relished the lessness of his pain. It was the soothing feeling of a small hand inside his own that caused Bender to open his eyes and find himself looking at a concerned Claire.

She had lost all feeling in her crushed hand, but she didn't allow the pain that was beginning to grow in it to appear on her face. Seeing Bender looking at her now caused Claire to immediately stop feeling it.

He looked so physically hurt but his expression was one of a sad, lonely defenceless boy who was an intrinsic part of Bender. It was the expression of lost innocence that all children subjected to physical abuse have.

Claire was face to face with the part of Bender that nobody ever saw.

Not being able to say anything, because there was nothing to say, Claire slowly reached up with her free hand towards his bruised face. When it was a few centimeters away from his left cheek, he instantly flinched away before she could touch him.

Bender's gaze went from her raised hand to her face then back to her raised hand then finally resting back on her face. He stared so hard at her with a silent warning, Claire's hand faltered in mid-air.

Should she continue to reach for him?

**A/N: **Hey guys. Just a note to say, thankyou so much from the bottom of my heart for all of the reviews that people have written. There is no better feeling than knowing that people actually read your story that you have worked for months on (believe me I have) and that al of the hard work is paying off. Thankyou thankyou thankyou. I hope you all like the new chapter and that you all have a great Christmas if you celebrate it, and if not I just hope you have a great day and continue reading this story. Thankyou again.


	16. Chapter 16: The Sense Of Touch

Chapter Sixteen: The Sense Of Touch

_Yes…_

The answer was so obvious to her that Claire didn't even think twice as she looked Bender in the eye. Concern and care was etched strongly on her face as she silently asked for Bender's permission.

The silent question was just as obvious to him but something deep inside him cracked as the vision of Claire so concerned and caring, for him, drew on a warm feeling deep in his stomach that was not caused by pain.

Bender shut his eyes in acceptance and slightly bowed his head.

Claire waited for a few seconds until it occurred to her that he was going to allow her to touch his face.

Slowly she descended her raised hand softly onto his bruised cheek.

She didn't apply any pressure at all but just the soft, comforting feeling of her hand on his cheek caused Bender to slightly draw his eyebrows together and lean against her hand slightly.

God he had needed this…

Having someone to help pick him up off the ground.

Someone who truly cared for him…

Claire.

Up until now he had not realized just how much he craved for her touch, her affection, her entirely.

Wincing, he allowed his face to fully rest against her hand.

The pain was all worth it to endure the touch from a hand that was not raised to hurt him.

"What happened to you John?" she asked quietly, tears rising in her eyes.

Instantly he opened his eyes and looked at her, weariness in his eyes once more.

Seeing the guardness in his gaze, Claire fought the urge to shower affection onto him because she knew it would only push him away even further. Instead she blinked and waited in silence to she if he would answer.

He didn't but his bright brown eyes became very intimidating and dared Claire to look away from him.

It was a look to test Claire's but her feelings made her pass with flying colours.

"What happened?" she asked again, now more worried than before because he had not replied.

Having her looking at him so expectantly for an answer suddenly caused panic to run through Bender.

Without any warning, he suddenly pulled away from her touch and shot out of his chair.

He began to quickly walk away from the desk but the sudden jerky movements immediately took their toll on his damaged body.

Pain burst through his upper body and back. The enormity of it causing Bender to suddenly collapse on the ground in a faint.

Claire immediately gave a small scream of alarm and panic, rushing forward to his fallen form.

"John!"

She fell to her knees by his side, hands poised in the air ready for action…

But she didn't know what to do.

"John?"

Bender had fallen heavily onto his right side, his arms and legs strewn out at slightly bizarre angles, head on its side.

Instantly she checked his pulse and felt it beat erratically under her fingertips. Her second instinct was to help support his head to clear his airways.

Quickly she took off her jacket and rolled it up before gently placing it underneath his head. She paused for a second and studied his relaxed face.

Carefully she reached over and lightly ran a hand through his longish hair.

"John?"

It felt soft still, but along parts of his scalp she could feel something dry and hard. Claire inspected closer and she immediately felt sick when she saw it was dried blood.

There were large clumps of it at the roots of his hair but from further inspection Claire could only see one dried wound the size of a quarter.

It was no longer bleeding but it looked extremely sore and Claire couldn't help but worry about infection.

She needed a first aid kit.

Glancing around the library she could see none so Claire got up off the floor and began quickly searching everywhere.

Claire couldn't find one.

Frustration and worry caused her to curse loudly and immediately she regretted it when she heard footsteps shuffle outside the library door.

"Oh shit…" she whispered as panic, dread and a terrible forsense filled her.

She listened to the steps pause outside he door and she didn't dare breathe.

A minute slowly passed.

Claire stood, frozen to her spot, but she suddenly heard the footsteps begin to walk away from the door once more. She listened to them as they echoed through a nearby corridor and eventually disappeared.

She let out a huge sigh of relief.

_Phew, that was a close call…_

Suddenly a low groan emitted behind her, close to the floor and sounding room full of pain.

Claire spun around on the spot and dashed to Bender's side. She watched as he twitched a few times before relaxing once more against the floor.

Worry filled her when he did not wake, but it allowed her more time to try and find out what injuries he had.

She glanced back at the library door and Claire knew she would have to go outside the library to find a medical pack.

"The sick bay."

The answer was so simple that Claire couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before.

But going to the sick bay was going to be a risky mission…

As uncertainty filled Claire, she gazed down at Bender lying next to her. Seeing him so hurt but seemingly out of pain till he woke up next and that she was the only person he had, made Claire make her mind.

Carefully she leant over and kissed him softly on the forehead.

"I'll be back soon." She whispered before standing up and walking over to the library exit.

Carefully she stuck her head out of the door and looked at both ends of the corridor for Vernon. Luckily they were both clear and Claire quickly set off down the right corridor.

She knew the quickest route to her destination but she doubled back to certain corridors just to be safe.

But Claire had never felt so scared or daring in her whole life.

The school had changed from its usual friendly environment to a scary maze with a dangerous game of cat and mouse going on.

She was the mouse and Vernon was the unsuspecting cat.

Claire walked silently throughout the numerous corridors that led her past the gym, cafeteria and science labs till she finally reached the sick bays.

Thankfully they were unlocked and when Claire entered the girl bay, she quickly, but quietly, shut the door behind her. Nerves, worries and high strung tension finally broke within her and Claire feebly sat on the sick bed, breathing quickly, heart pounding and sweating.

Covering her face with her hands, Claire took a few shuddering deep breaths.

In one, two, three…out two, three, four.

Sitting up straight and resting her hands on her lap, Claire shut her eyes and continued this breathing pattern till she got herself under control again.

The fears and nerves passed and Claire got up off the bed and began rummaging around the small room. She gathered bandages, disinfected, band-aids and other bits and pieces, placing them all in a carry box.

With her precious bundle, Claire exited the sick bay and ventured once more into the empty corridor. She paused for a full minute and listened intently for any sound of footsteps.

She couldn't hear anything…not even an echo.

Quickly she rushed back to the library and Claire made it there without being seen or caught.

When she entered the room , Bender was still lying on the floor but, unbeknownst to her, was awake.

He didn't see her as she approached but Bender caught the scent of her familiar perfume as she got closer to him. The pain didn't allow him to roll over but his eyes sought her out. They instantly locked on her profile as she walked towards him.

The instant she noticed he was awake, he saw her face beam with happiness and worry. Her slow speed of approach increased to a dash as Claire ran and knelt at his side.

She placed the med-box on the ground and looked intently at his face.

"Thank god your awake!" she gushed in relief. "I didn't know what to do and…"

"Claire I passed out…" he grumbled, voice full of pain, "I didn't fucking die so don't worry."

All worry and relief flew out of the window as rage infused deep within Claire.

His assumption that his passing out and injuries didn't matter to her, and his inability to say thanks for getting medical stuff for him and…god she was pissed off.

"Well John, next time you pass out on the floor in detention from the pain that you got from whatever injuries your father gave to you, don't expect any help from me!" she yelled at him.

Claire stood up and stalked away to a desk as faraway from John Bender as possible.

She sat down and turned so her back was to him, refusing any temptation to turn around and look.

"Asshole." She muttered quietly.

&&&

Bender watched, slightly shocked, as Claire retreat to a faraway desk and turn her back to him.

He blinked a few times, half-expecting her to turn around and look at him. When she didn't he became very annoyed.

_She doesn't wanna speak to me, fine. I don't give a shit anyway…_

Bender stopped mid-thought as the soft material under his head drew his attention.

Wincing, he reached up and pulled the material from under his head and held it up in front of his eyes.

It was Claire's coat.

_Maybe she doesn't hate me after all…_

Bender felt the growing feelings towards Claire become just a little bit stronger. He knew she must have been really worried for him to use her designer coat as a pillow for him.

Goddammit! Why did she have to care so much?

Bender's gaze fell back to the floor, which he was still lying on.

He really needed to get up off it…

Slowly he attempted to push himself off the ground, but just tightening the muscles around his damaged ribs caused Bender to immediately abort his mission.

_Fuck…_


	17. Chapter 17:Help Is Always Given If Asked

A/N: Hello again guys! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year, I know I did and I've made up for taking so long to update. This is a whopping long chapter just for all of you guys and I'll reply ASAP to all of the lovely reviews that I got. The issue of that 'mysterious girl' will be answered within the next few chapters but I kinda got sidetracked with this chapter because I could. Hope you like and I haven't forgotten about 'that girl' just yet. :) Chapter Seventeen: Help Is Always Given…If Asked That Is

Claire was pissed off…still.

She had silently cursed Bender with everything under the sun, but she had to be angry otherwise she would feel the unavoidable pain.

Her wandering thoughts trailed back to the girl whom she had seen with Bender.

The hurt of seeing it began to push through her barrier, but Claire wouldn't allow it through.

Clenching her eyes shut against the burning sensation of tears, Claire gripped the sides of the chair in an attempt to control herself.

She envisioned the 'other girl' again and instantly the tears disappeared. Claire couldn't help but feel betrayed and used as she thought as she thought of the other girl.

'What-if' images of Bender and the dark haired beauty kissing and doing other things ran through her head.

_How could he? How could he do this to me?_

A surging of different emotions inside Claire caused her to open her eyes and stare blankly at the wall.

"He doesn't believe in one boy and one girl…" she whispered quietly.

She had purposely neglected remembering this all week. Claire had not thought about it once because she hoped that Bender would warm up to the idea of it.

Her hopes of progress and change had been shattered in one minute.

_Now what do I do?_

Claire sighed deeply as she finally allowed the sadness through, and tears instantly came. As they rose in her eyes, she gave a small sniff and hung her head.

God, she's crying over something like this and John's lying on the floor with terrible injuries that he had gotten from his dad.

_I'm pathetic…_

"Cherry?"

Bender's voice instantly caught Claire's attention. She quickly wiped away her tears and turned around to look at him.

He was still lying in the same position on the floor. She saw clear frustration on his face but something else that made Claire get out of her seat and walk over to him.

"What John?" she asked, kneeling down next to him.

Bender looked up at her and quickly looked away again.

"Can you help me get up? I can't do it by myself." He asked, flushing with embarrassment at the whole situation.

Claire blinked a few times, taken aback by his question. She had never seen him blush before, or looked so embarrassed.

_It must have been a really hard thing for him to ask me…_

Instantly forgetting about 'the other girl', Claire nodded, "What can I do?"

Bender extended both of his hands and Claire clasped them tightly in her own.

He looked at her with a serious expression, "You need to help support me, but pull me up at the same time."

Claire shifted herself onto her knees. She looked at Bender with worry and concern, "How are we going to do this?"

Bender gazed around for something and quickly he targeted his scarf, which was still tied around his boot.

Claire saw it, untied it and passed it to him.

He surprised her by suddenly shoving half of it into his mouth. Quickly though she realized he was using it as gag because what was going to happen was going to hurt a lot.

Staring him in the eyes she asked, "On the count of three?"

Bender nodded and made a muffled noise.

Claire shuffled herself around to be directly in front of his chest. She placed an arm under his right shoulder and swung his left arm around her shoulders.

He stifled a groan at the movement of his arm but Bender knew it was insignificant compared to what was going to come.

Claire looked at him, "Ready?"

Bender nodded and gave a muffled 'yes'.

She counted, "One…"

He grasped her left shoulder…

"Two."

He screwed his eyes shut and braced himself…

"Three!"

Pain exploded in his ribs as Claire began to move him. Bender roared out in pain but the scarf muffled his agony.

With a mighty effort, they managed to get Bender up into a sitting position.

Claire was still kneeling, an arm still around his shoulders, the other arm still holding Bender's arm around her own shoulders.

The excruciating movements were still causing Bender to cry out in muffled pain. His grip on her shoulder tightened so much that Claire gave a small whimper.

His free arm somehow wrapped itself around her midriff and drew her close to him. She felt him cling to her; bury his head against her shoulders, using her as a ground till the searing pain would pass.

Bender clung for a long time.

He went silent after a little while, but he didn't let go.

The scarf got spat out of his mouth and it fell to the floor. Claire saw how screwed up it was and she couldn't help but wonder how many times that scarf had been used as a gag.

She didn't say anything though as she felt Bender's grip on her suddenly slacken.

Claire didn't dare move, for fear of hurting him, as she felt his hands slowly travel down to rest on her hips. She felt the bottom of her top being tugged on and become untucked by his hands.

Claire stiffened and couldn't help but have a sharp intake of breath as Bender's gloved hands suddenly came into contact with the skin on her stomach.

His hands roamed up her sides. They trailed over her soft skin, around her lower back and stomach.

"John what are you doing?" she asked, slightly breathless and alarmed by his actions.

Instantly his hands came to a halt, but only for a second. They slowly moved to her ribs and finally stopped.

A few minutes passed.

Claire was acutely aware of John Bender having his hands up her top and that they were only centimeters away from her bra. She didn't know how to react or what was going to happen next. A part of her though seemed to know that Bender wasn't going to go any further.

Bender felt her ribs under his fingertips. He felt how smooth they were, unbroken and untouched.

It was not fair.

He knew exactly which of his ribs were cracked and which ones in the past had been broken.

Claire felt his fingers gently outline every one of her lower ribs. When his hands suddenly stopped on two ribs on her right side and one on her left, she immediately knew the significance of his actions.

"These are my screwed ribs…" Bender said, surprising himself with how steady his voice sounded.

He pulled his head away from her neck and looked at her face. Claire gazed back and she had to find the want to cry for his pain and the unfairness of everything that had happened to him.

No, she had to be strong for him now and worry about her emotions later.

This didn't stop her though as she placed her hands directly over his hands on her ribs, separated by the thin cotton material of her top.

The feel of her hands pressing over his hand caused Bender to shut his eyes again and lean his forehead against hers.

"What do we do next?" she asked uncertainly.

Bender quickly opened his eyes and stared directly into hers.

"We are going to bandage me up."

Claire looked very unsure about it but she replied, "And how will we do that?"

He turned his head and looked over to the disregarded medical supply box.

"We use whatever the hell you've brought in that little box over there."

Claire followed his gaze and she couldn't believe that she had forgotten about the box she had snuck out to get.

She removed her hands off his and went to get up but she suddenly felt Bender's hands slightly tighten on her ribs.

She looked at him and was very shocked to see his eyes dilated with longing and uncertainty.

"I'm just gonna get the med pack." Claire said slowly, trying her hardest to get it through to him that she would be coming back. "I'll be back in a second."

"Fine…whatever." He grumbled and released her from him.

Claire lingered by his side for a few more seconds, confused by his change in behavior, but she quickly moved.

It took her no less than five seconds to get the pack off the floor and to bring it back, but Bender's mood had once again changed.

When Claire knelt down next to him, she found him glaring at her.

"What?" she asked confused and slightly hurt by his expression.

"Why do you care if I'm hurt?" he shot back at her, his voice laced with anger.

Claire was taken aback by his question and hurt by his attitude, but she guessed that maybe it was the defense wall he raised whenever he was hurt and vulnerable.

She was going to have to break it down to get through to him so he would let her help him.

"Why do you care if I did care?" she asked, using false-anger in her voice.

Anger flared on his face but she was not put off. Anger was his universal language and in order to get through to him she would have to speak in his tongue.

Even though she really was just pretending to be angry with him.

"I don't!" he yelled back.

"Then why did you ask?" she demanded.

Bender gave her a look of utter hatred and turned his face aware, glaring at the med pack near his leg.

"Why John?!" she asked again, using more anger in her voice than was perhaps necessary, but she needed him to explode.

Explode he did.

Two strong hands suddenly seized her shoulders and pulled her towards him.

Claire cried out in pain as his fingers dug into her shoulders with extreme force. She suddenly felt her entire body being rattled as Bender shook her once, hard.

"Because _nobody_ gives a shit about me!" he roared back in her face, tightening his grip on her shoulders as he spoke.

Claire winced in pain but she remained silent as she just stared at him.

There was a dangerous gleam of madness in his eyes, beneath all of the anger and rage, but Claire also saw an emotional wall that was breaking.

Carefully she reached for him with her hands but the instant she moved he looked at her, the madness in his eyes disappeared and a crack appeared in his anger as he looked at her with uncertainty and weariness.

Claire slowed down her movements as she continued to reach for him…

She looked at him with care and concern while he stared back at her with anger and weariness.

"_I _care John." She whispered, tears rising in her eyes, "_I_ give a shit about you."

Bender's angered expression began to very slowly dissolve and his vulnerability shone through under Claire's concerned and caring gaze.

"We need to get you bandaged up." She said quietly and watched him for a reaction.

Bender stared at her for a full minute before finally nodding.

"Fine." He said, all of the fight now drained out of him.

He silently studied Claire as she took a deep breath and placed her hands on his tattered shirt and the clasped buttons. Slowly she began unbuttoning his shirt, chewing her lip in concentration and nervousness as she did it.

Bender suddenly realized he was still gripping her shoulders.

Alarmed, he immediately released her and the muscles in his hands twinged with pain with how much strength he had been using on her.

Guilt laced through Bender like nothing he had felt before…

_Oh fuck! I've hurt Claire!_

"I'm sorry."

The words sprang from his lips before he could think about it, but Claire looked up at him with a somber expression.

"For what?"

Claire didn't want him to know that he's hurt her, but seeing him look at her with such a torn expression and how much turmoil had been in his voice, she knew he regretted his actions towards her.

"Oh fuck…Claire…I…" he stammered but suddenly pain tore through him, as his breathing grew erratic from emotion.

Claire instantly stopped unbuttoning his shirt as she heard his breath catch in his throat and his face suddenly paled.

The fear of him passing out again caused her to suddenly place her hands on both sides of his face, forcing him to look straight into her eyes.

"Don't you dare pass out again John Bender!" she said in a slightly commanding, yet panicked, voice. "I need you awake to do this!"

Unaware where her tone came from, she watched him with a piercing gaze as Bender fought to get a hold of his breathing and focused solely on her.

He struggled greatly and Claire couldn't help but whisper quietly, "Stay with me."

There was silence for a few minutes as Bender finally got back the ability to breathe evenly and had regained enough composure that he gave a small groan and uttered, "I don't think I'll be moving anytime soon Cherry."

Claire gave a relieved smile as he sounded slightly more like himself. She moved her hands off his face and placed them on her knees.

Reaching over for the med pack, Claire removed all of the rolled up bandages and put them on the ground next to her knees.

When she turned to look at Bender, she suddenly saw him undoing the last button on his shirt.

She gulped as she noticed that underneath his shirt he was indeed wearing nothing, not even a long sleeved top for warmth.

Bender started shrugging off his shirt, but he soon struggled greatly trying to do it.

"I can't even get my fucking shirt off by myself!" he growled loudly before suddenly looking at Claire expectantly.

What he was expecting her to do instantly hit her and Claire looked at him very nervously. If this had happened before last Saturday there would not have been a chance in hell that she would've helped him. But so much had happened in the past week and now Claire found herself with a guy expecting her to get his shirt.

It wasn't really like she had a choice ultimately because it had to be done in order to help him, but still it didn't help her nerves.

_Oh shit I'm gonna have to remove his shirt…_

"That means I'm going to have to do it doesn't it?" she asked, wanting to confirm it in words to slightly cling to the hope that maybe, just maybe, there would be another way…

Ruefully he smirked and cocked his head to one side, "Yeah princess I guess it does."

Sighing Claire gazed down at his open shirt and immediately felt her breath catch in her throat.

Bender watched, very amused, as she raised her hands and carefully placed them on the lapels of his collar. He couldn't believe her nervousness at removing a guy's shirt but he had to remember that she was doing it for the first time, so he was going to cut her some slack…

When she looked at up him again though he knew he couldn't let himself do that.

"Strip me."

Claire's entire face wrinkled up in disgust, "Pig!"

Immediately Claire's nervousness had disappeared and an annoyance had stepped in.

Carefully she started removing his shirt, not even noticing the smooth skin that covered his back, chest and stomach. No she wasn't looking at the lean muscles that she could see right under the surface of his shin. She was most definitely not even aware that her hands kept on accidentally making soft contact with his warm skin.

Claire successfully managed to get the shirt over his shoulders and fully exposing the top half of his chest and back.

She paused for a second as she studied his form.

He was without abs and bulging muscles, but he wasn't without muscles. He was lean, fit and…

"Like what you see cherry?"

Bender's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she saw him smirking at her. She instantly felt a severe heat burn in her cheeks as embarrassment flooded her.

"I uh…ummm…I was…" she stammered in explanation, but nothing came out of it.

_Shit!!!_

Bender gave her a small chuckle, loving every minute of it, but he just winked at her.

"Words just can't explain your love at the beauty of me."

Claire scoffed and shuffled herself around to carefully lift his arm through the sleeves. To her annoyance his gloves made it too difficult to get his hands through.

"John we're gonna have to remove your gloves to get your shirt off." She said carefully, unsure what his reaction was going to be because she knew he loved his gloves and they never came off.

Bender looked at her for a second, seeing whether she was being serious or not.

When she didn't say anything more, he grumbled, "Fine." and in a few seconds he had

removed his gloves and put them on the floor.

Without the gloves on, now she could easily pass his arms through the sleeves and dispose of his shirt, placing it on the floor with his gloves.

The sight of him completely topless before her made Claire blush again, but the instant she actually saw his ribs, stomach and lower back the embarrassment of his modesty disappeared in a second.

His skin and muscle were black and blue and there were large areas that were swollen.

Claire gasped out loud, tears rising in her eyes at the sight of his injuries, the damage that he had been given by his father.

"Oh god…" she moaned.

Bender looked down at his injuries.

_Fuck! They look worse than before…_

He turned his head away from Claire's probing eyes as she looked back at him.

"Just pass me the fucking bandages Claire." He said forcefully, not caring how he sounded because he couldn't bear having Claire look at him like that.

Wordlessly Claire passed him a bandage and she watched it as he unrolled it very precisely around his bruised lower ribs.

Bender successfully wrapped the bandage around himself once, but the pain from the movements became so excruciating that he had to stop.

Claire immediately took a hold of the bandage as his grip on it loosened.

They didn't say anything as the pain slowly dulled down once more.

Wordlessly they looked at each other.

_Let me help you..._she pleaded silently, showing all of her feelings in her eyes.

Carefully he regarded her, see her heart in her beautiful eyes and Bender couldn't believe that even after everything today…she still wanted to help him because she genuinely cared and was concerned for him.

It was all there for him to see as she looked at him.

He had never seen that before in any other person and had never expected it to be directed at him…

She really did care for him.

"Help me Claire." He whispered, for fear he might not get the sentence out at all.

Claire smiled lovingly at him and Bender knew that his princess was locked tightly in his heart.

_Ah fuck…I'm done for now._


	18. Chapter 18: The Sense of Touch II

A/N: Hello again. I've sat down and I have replied to all of the great reviews I got from the last chapter (I'm so glad people liked it! It was such a long chapter for me and I spent a long time writing it) and I've decided to post them in this chapter because I am worried that people think that the reviews I have received for this story has fallen onto deaf ears. Well I can safely say they haven't and here is the proof for it. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because this is dedicated to all of those who reviewed last chapter. :) Thankyou very much once again. 

iHeartFFs: Even though you are anon. thankyou so much for the lovely reviews. :) you are not a loser at all. Lol. I'm guilty too for regularly checking my favourite fics too. I hope this update was quick enough and that you will enjoy this chapter if you choose to continue reading. I hope so. :) I have enjoyed very much writing this story and needless to say I haven't even finished writing it yet.

Kemowithch92: Thankyou for the review. I love it when people can take the time to leave a review because the author knows that someone is reading it and there is no greater satisfaction than that. I hope you like what will happen next. :) 

Shapiro: I hope you don't mind what I do to him. Poor Bender is going to be in a rough ride for a little while because I'm going to pull something on him that will be emotionally painful for both him and Claire. But we've got a few chapters till we get there yet. :) Stay tuned for it and thankyou for the review. I'm glad you think it is good.

Helinahandcart: Bows lol. :) I'm honoured you think it seems worthy of an encore so here is the next chapter for its encore. :) Thanks for the review and I'm very happy you think it's a great story that's well written too. :D

romantic.dreamer26: Lol. :D I know what you mean by having to remember what the story was whenever I get an alert. Lol. Thankyou so much for the review and that you like it. Much appreciated. I have been extremely full on working on other stories at the moment but I love coming back to work on this story. Oddly its like slipping on a pair of old, comfortable shoes. Lol. I hope this update didn't take too long for you.

roguegambit: It is you I owe my biggest thanks to for sticking by this story when I started it and that was what first inspired me that maybe people actually wanted to read my story. Thankyou so much. You're lovely reviews and helpful comments I have always taken into much consideration as I write and I cannot help but say that you have been a muse for me with this story. Thankyou so much. :) I can only hope that you will continue reading it because this story is long from being over.

Chapter Eighteen: The Sense of Touch II

_Thirty minutes later…_

Claire had successfully managed to very tightly bandage Bender's ribs with the eight bandages she had brought.

After she had finished and was packing away the med pack, Bender sat silently and watched her.

She was very aware of him watching her but she gave no indication of it.

It was the sudden feel of his right hand on her chin, slowly turning her head to look at him, which caused Claire to completely stop what she was doing.

His hands were still ungloved and they slowly glided up and down the sides of her face, along her jawline, carefully sliding through her soft hair and over her cheeks.

Claire watched his eyes as they studied every part of her face that his hands touched. He was concentrating hard on his every movement, seemingly committing very curve and pore of her soft skin to memory.

"Is there something on my face or something?" she asked quietly, slightly spellbound by how he was looking at her.

Bender's eyes locked with her own and his hands stopped moving, resting on the sides of her face.

"No…I was just looking." He said simply. "Never just looked at a girl's face before."

"Why?"

Bender moved his hands off her face and shrugged his shoulders.

"When I normally see a girl who's attractive, lets just say my sinning eyes don't focus on her face." He explained, smirking.

Claire briefly rolled her eyes then stared thoughtfully at him, "Why were doing it with me?"

Bender didn't answer; instead he reached fir his disregarded shirt and began to slowly put it on.

His silence made Claire exhale in a quiet sigh and she knew it was hopeless to ask this sort of thing to John Bender.

It had been amazing enough that he had asked for her help and had allowed her to assist him with his bandaging. He had let down his wall enough that she had seen that, given time, he would be able to open up to her fully.

Suddenly she saw him struggle in getting his shirt back over his shoulders and in silence, she automatically shifted herself behind him and helped.

The moment she touched his shirt he stopped his struggling and paused, not knowing whether to push her away or not. He didn't move or try to push Claire away while she gently pulled the shirt over his shoulders and fixed his collar.

He didn't say anything as he felt her hesitate to move away. It didn't hurt when she softly wrapped her arms around his stomach, carefully avoiding his damaged ribs. The weight and feeling of her suddenly leaning lightly against his back caused Bender to finally physically react.

Claire carefully leant her head against his upper back as she felt his arms intertwine with her own and join their hands together.

Bender heard her sigh quietly against his shirt and nuzzle her cheek against it. The feel of her arms around him and her hands in his own caused him to have a sense of comfort he had never felt before.

God…he didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve her. A princess and a criminal. A mixture that would surely end with disaster in the end…

_But this feels so nice…_

Looking down at their entwined hands, he knew deep in his heart that he had never so much for a girl before. He knew she needed him as much as he realized he needed her.

They were both screwed up in their own way, both families fucked up, one more so than the other, maybe it was a good thing they had each other.

He smirked and shook his head at his thought.

_I must have brain damage…_

"What are you thinking about?" Claire asked suddenly.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

Bender suddenly patted her hands gently; "It's best princess if you didn't know this one."

Claire, thinking it must be something terrible, nodded against his back and mumbled, "Ok then."

There was a pout in her voice that made Bender smile.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

Claire looked up at the giant library clock. It read 9:00 and she sighed.

"That Vernon is gonna come in soon to check up on us."

Now Bender sighed heavily. "Then we better get me back in my desk before Dick does come."

He let go of her hands and began buttoning up his shirt. It felt weird to be doing it all without his gloves on, but being able to feel everything on his hand was very strange.

Claire removed her arms around him and herself off him. She stood up and walked around in front of him. Watching him fasten his remaining buttons, she waited patiently for him.

When he finished Bender looked up at her and Claire offered him her hand, and a smile.

Bender half grinned back and reached for her hand.

The instant their hands clasped, Bender suddenly pulled down and caused Claire to tumble down onto his lap and into his arms.

It hurt him to do it, but having his ribs bound up made it be very bearable. Having Claire in his arms for the first time all day made it all worth it.

Claire, still fazed from the sudden force of movement, felt two familiar strong arms around her and a head buried against her neck.

A contented, yet slightly painful, sigh escaped Bender as all of his senses were overpowered by the comforting essence that was named Claire.

Claire automatically wrapped her arms around his neck, shutting her eyes and softly relaxing against him.

_Hmmm…smell of John…_

"I just needed my morning dose of cherry." He said against her throat.

She opened her eyes and looked at wall over his shoulder with a foolish grin, but something made her shut her eyes again in sadness.

_Just ignore it Claire…don't think of the other girl. He is yours, right here, right now in your arms…_

"We better get back to our seats." She said quietly, causing Bender to move and look at her bizarrely.

"You sound just like Brian." He said half smirking but his sharp eyes caught something in the two innocent eyes they stared back up at him. There was something wrong and she was not going to tell him the true reasons behind her intentions.

What ever it was it wasn't good because he swore he had seen sadness in her eyes.

Claire began to unwrap her arms around him and was about to get off him, when suddenly Bender leant forward and kissed her.

His lips hungrily engulfed hers and Claire instantly kissed him back with as much fervor, her hunger easily matching his.

Whenever words failed between them, kissing would always form the necessary bridge to reconnect them.

Bender kissed her repeatedly until he felt satisfied, having only hugged her today, and now she was clinging to him, very pliant and seemingly happy again.

He kissed away all of Claire's secret fears about the other girl she had seen him with. By the time they separated, she was barely able to think anything.

"Now we can get back to our seats." He said with a true-smile which caused Claire to melt inside.

How could she ever doubt him when he was smiling at her like that?

Claire nodded in agreement and got off him before she carefully helped him get off the floor. It was a lot easier to move him this time because his ribs were bandaged and didn't cause as much pain like the last time he moved.

Although it still did hurt to move, and breathe, but at least now it was at a controllable level and much more bearable than before.

Once standing he limped off to his desk by himself, but Claire watched him the entire time he walked. She was relieved when he finally sat down in his seat and looked back at her with his trademark cocky smirk.

"You coming over princess?"

Claire smiled and walked over to his desk before sitting herself down next to him.

The feeling of breaking Vernon's rules sent strong feelings of rebellion throughout her and Claire found herself strongly liking it. She was going have to keep it under control otherwise she was unsure what she was going to be capable of if she continued down this road too far.

But it was simply breaking the rule of not moving seats and sitting next to each other that was making her feel like this. Thinking on this for a few more seconds, Claire realized it was not the feel of breaking the rules; it was the anticipation and the process of Vernon to come back and catch her like this.

A part of her wanted to know how he was going to react when he walked through the door and saw her, but the part of her didn't.

Maybe she should go back to her desk before it was too late?

Regardless of her confused feelings, she couldn't help but ask, "So what now?"

Bender just shrugged. "We wait till Vernon comes." He said before flashing a grin at her, "At least the door can stay shut this time, no questions asked."

Claire felt a deep heat burn in her cheeks at his words as his face darkened with secret promises that she could not fathom.

Whatever that boy was thinking it could be dirty as usual…but for once she didn't care, if anything it caused her to feel a strange heat pool in her stomach.

She looked away at the library door with a blushing smile that quickly disappeared when the door opened and Vernon strolled in.

**A/N: Dun dun dun!!!!!! I'll update tomorrow because I am not horrible enough to leave you hanging like that. :) And next chapter will be longer than this one too. And if I receive any reviews I will reply to them and post them in the next chapter. :) I'll work by this system now because it is fair to everyone and much easier for me to do it in one go. Ta!**


	19. Chapter 19: First Check Up and Lunch

Chapter Nineteen: First Check Up and Lunch

The instant Vernon saw them, sitting together at the front, he quickly looked around to see if anything had been destroyed or tampered with.

When everything seemed untouched, he turned his gaze back to the innocent-looking pair and walked over towards them, a storm brewing on his face.

"And what authority gave you the permission to move chairs Miss Standish?" he growled at her.

Claire gulped nervously at Vernon but Bender's hand suddenly made its way to her knee under the desk. The feeling of it steadied her nerves as she shrugged slightly at Vernon.

"We weren't talking sir." She said, very, very innocently.

She sounded so convincing that Vernon studied her suspiciously for a few more seconds before turning his attention to Bender.

"Did you have something to do with this?" Vernon demanded and Bender just smiled coolly at him.

"No Richard, I have barely moved the entire time." He answered, very matter-of-factly, quickly glancing in Claire's direction.

Vernon caught the exchange of a smirk between them and he suddenly pointed at Claire. "What was that?!" he growled, but his question just drew a confused look from Claire.

"What was what sir?"

Vernon pointed his finger Bender then back to Claire again.

"You shared a look! What was that? I saw it and I know it's not good!" he yelled. 

Claire looked at Bender with confusion then back at Vernon again.

"Sir we don't understand you either." Bender said with sarcastic confusion, which caused Vernon to glare at him.

"You have been in a fight Bender about some pot but you don't wanna screw around with me again." Vernon threatened and Bender instantly shut his mouth as the rage within him flared up again.

_In a fight?!_

Bender opened his mouth to fucking tell Vernon where to go when suddenly Claire's hand came to softly rest on his thigh under the desk.

Immediately his eyes bulged in his head and Claire had to bite her lip to stop her from smiling at Bender's reaction.

He wasn't going to yell at Vernon now…

Vernon looked at Bender expectantly, waiting for him to bite back but Bender was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of hormones and arousal that he couldn't string two words together.

What Claire hadn't realized was that she had accidentally put her hand further up along his thigh than she had originally intended.

Bender's shocked unresponsive face quickly signaled to Vernon that he wasn't going to reply, so Vernon had a smug expression as he turned his back and went over to the library door.

Quickly though he turned back around to face the troublesome pair as a final warning occurred to him.

"Miss Standish if you move seats one more time it'll be another Saturday for you! I won't warn you again."

Claire nodded solemnly but silently cheered inside at being allowed to sit next to Bender as Vernon finally disappeared out of the door.

The instant he was gone Claire turned to Bender with a grin, but Bender just looked at her with his mouth slightly agape at her.

"Claire…do you realize that if your hand goes any higher up my leg you'll be touching more than my thigh?" Bender asked his voice slightly strained.

Claire's eyes widened with horror as she quickly glanced under the desk. Gasping, her hand flew away from his thigh and up onto the desk.

Looking, and feeling, truly mortified, Claire looked away from Bender's face to the wall. Her cheeks burned brightly with embarrassment at the whole situation, also because she had quite liked how his leg had felt.

She couldn't bring herself to look at him as she gushed an aghast 'sorry', and shifted her chair a little away from him.

Bender felt a smile twitch at the corners or his mouth and within seconds he was smiling so much his cheeks hurt.

Claire still had her head turned away from him so she didn't see it, but the sudden sound of his laughter echoing around the library caused her to instantly turn in her chair to look at him.

John Bender was laughing.

Actually laughing and it was genuine.

There was no sarcasm, falseness or menace in his voice. It was his real laugh.

Unsure how to react, Claire blinked a few times, trying to process her thoughts, but her reaction just made Bender laugh even more.

She looked at him with confusion, but Bender just chuckled now and shook his head at her.

"What?" she asked with a slight laugh.

Bender looked at her with a true smile, "Just you Claire. Just you."

Claire blushed under the warm gaze he was giving her and mumbled another 'sorry', but she was now able to look at him.

Bender shrugged, silently accepting it but giving Claire a wink at the same time.

"Don't worry princess, you're not the only girl who's hand has 'accidentally' slipped further up my leg than what they had intended." He said with amusement but it had the completely opposite effect on Claire.

His statement slammed back home to Claire the images of the mysterious girl. Had that girl also touched Bender at some point too? Was she, Claire, just another chink in the chain for him along with that other girl she had seen?

Turmoil raged deep within her, but rather than allowing it to show, Claire just rolled her eyes and looked away from him.

And so time passed.

The hours slowly crept by and they were spent by Bender sleeping, chatting to Claire and sometimes making _very_ suggestive comments that always made her blush and look away.

It hadn't taken long though for him to realize that something was wrong with Claire.

She wasn't laughing as much, or biting back at him and giving him her adorable glare that always just drove him on to continue teasing her.

He noticed whenever they kissed.

She was kissing him with so much passion that it seemed like she didn't want to let go.

As if she was…reclaiming him???

Lunch came and Vernon stepped into the room with his usual gloomy look.

He had brought in two cans of coke so they wouldn't complain of dehydration like last week. In his strictest voice he had retold them what the rules were and what they weren't allowed to do. Giving them an hour for lunch, Vernon had left again with a warning look at them both.

The minute he had gone, Claire had retrieved her bag off the floor. When she pulled out a large brown paper bag instead of a fancy lunchbox like last week, Bender was surprised.

"No sushi this week princess?" he asked and Claire raised her eyebrows at the surprised tone in his voice.

She quickly looked at the brown paper bag and then back at Bender, half-biting her lip with a smile as she did it.

"Well I've hade a guy's tongue in my mouth since then so I thought having sushi in front of you would be inappropriate." She said innocently, but her eyes gleamed mischief as Bender crossed his arms and looked at her very cockily.

"Is that right princess?" Bender asked assuredly, slowly leaning towards Claire as he spoke.

Smiling Claire started leaning towards Bender's grinning face and said, "Yes that's right."

Bender's lips hovered above hers, his deep brown eyes boring into her own as he huskily said, "Hmm…you might need to convince me cherry."

And she did.

Later after _several_ heavy tongue-tying kisses the unusual, yet happy, couple were eating the peanut and jelly sandwiches that Claire had brought them both for lunch.

Bender knew he would have automatically refused any food offered to him, had it been anyone else or if there had been anybody else about. Deep down he knew Claire was microscopically beginning to change what he was like…

That and she had been offering anyway.

He never felt bad from eating anything she offered because he knew she wasn't doing it out of pity or sympathy. Bender had to admit though he did it out of common courtesy because if he refused her food she would get upset.

An upset and sulky Claire for four and a half hours would nearly be worse than his injuries.

Before lunch his ribs had twinged painfully on and off, but there was always a feeling of an uncomfortable heat that was slowly becoming more and more difficult to ignore.

All he had to do was make it through the day then he would go to the hospital to get the usual drugs to get rid of the pain. But at least he knew that the pain he was experiencing now would be nothing compared to the agony of before and what it would still be like if Claire hadn't have helped bandaged him up.

He would have been in serious trouble if Claire hadn't been with him today in detention.

Bender was very grateful for that bit of luck but he was beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to walk to the hospital by himself.

And then he was going to have to walk home…to his father.

Rage flared within him again and Bender ferociously tore off a bit of sandwich and began to chew on it noisily.

Claire, who had been chewing quietly on her own sandwich, looked at Bender with surprise at his sudden violent actions. Then she slightly grimaced in disgust at the guttural noises he was making deep in his throat as he chewed.

He wasn't paying any attention to her though as he took his anger and hate for his dad on the innocent sandwich.

Delicious as it was, it seemed to slightly be doing to job as Bender chewed and chewed and chewed.

Claire had now stopped eating her own sandwich and was watching him in shock as Bender just glared at the desktop and chewed.

She was now worried about him but she did not say anything because she knew him when he was in this mood. He had been the same way last week when he had stormed off and was uncontrollable after Andrew had not believed Bender and his abuse at home.

Suddenly it all clicked for Claire as she stared at Bender's hateful expression at the desk.

He was thinking about having to go home to his dad.

Not if she could help it.

Claire, knowing that he probably was going to try and pull away and yell at her to 'fuck off', slowly moved her chair closer to Bender so she was right next to him.

The instant her side came into soft contact with his, Claire watched as Bender's eyes slowly shut and his furious chewing falter for a second.

Slowly he stopped chewing and swallowed the crushed piece of sandwich.

His eyebrows drew together and he slightly bowed his head, causing his hair to hair to fall over his damaged face.

Claire felt her heart begin to break for him. Silently she reached up with her hand and gently drew back some of his long hair and exposing half of his face to her.

His eyes remained shut but he spoke,

"Claire what am I going to do?"

His voice sounded so lost and unsure that Claire's eyes immediately filled with tears.

This was so different compared to the Bender she had met last week, a bad boy, brimming with confidence and was unafraid to talk back, be a smart ass and shamelessly taunt her so badly that it came close to sexual harassment if you didn't know him better.

Now, a week later, it was just the two of them and his defense wall was down, he had needed her to bandage his damaged ribs that had been given to him by his own father.

Claire didn't know what to say…

"Oh John," she whispered, at a complete loss at how he was, "I don't know…"

She heard him sigh deeply with such sadness that her tears spilled down her face.

Opening his eyes he saw them and, despite everything, he smiled sadly at her.

"Great lot of help you are cherry." He said and Claire looked away from him.

Stung with hurt she looked at him helplessly and gushed without thinking, "Well if it was up to me you'd come and stay with me at my house till you're better because I can't stand the thought of you going home to your father."

Bender, now looking fully at her with a very mixed expression of shock, surprise and something that looked like affection, opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the library door opened and Vernon strolled in.

"Ok ladies, lunchtime is finished."

**A/N: ****Ok not really a good spot to leave it but at least it is an update lol. Thankyou so much for all of the great reviews and I have replied to all of them so feel free to read them if you wish to. I will be doing the same thing when I next update which I hope will be soon but I am writing the next few chapters and tweaking them but I promise the next chapter will deal with that 'mysterious girl'. She has been undiscussed for too long and she needs to be dealt with. But yeah I hope you like this chapter and OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! OVER 50 REVIEWS!!!!!!!! Woot! Thank you so much for all the great from all of the reviewers who have been reading it and telling what they think of it. I never expected to get this many reviews at all but from the bottom of my heart thankyou. Now, enough of me giving my thanks, here are my replies to the reviews. :)**

**StoriesThatNeverWere: Hey, thanks for the great review! I'm so pleased that my writing has been spot on for the most of the story. I think that's the biggest compliment an author who writes fanfic can get but I am also really relieved too. I've been working on this story for months (writing, editing, typing etc.) to try and get it right because this movie is very dear to me and I would hate to get it wrong in my story. So thank you so much. I definitely do not want to stray from that path at all because the point of this story is that I also could see them falling for each other after detention, but I just added a few dramas to make a plot. I hope you continue to read it because I am very interested to see what you will think of the next few chapters. Thanks.**

**Helinahandcart: Thankyou very much. :) I was a bit unsure about the floor action when I first wrote it but I'm happy with it now. I will try to post it. I'm still tweaking it because it's a longish chapter. I hope you like it though! Thanks for the review.**

**Thwarted Moony: Hey, thanks for the review. I'm glad you love it and you think it's really good. I have been working hard on it to make sure it does keep up to it's standard that I have been managing to have every chapter so far. Thanks again. :)**

**romantic,dreamer26: Lol. :) I'm glad you recognised it quicker this time. Lol. :D And I am very glad you still like it. I hope you will continue to read it and like it too:D**

**roguegambit: Of course you have been very helpful. :) Really? That it so cool. If I was Claire I would blush just as much as her. Lol. But yeah it is a bit amazing I guess, but hey I love writing it though. :) I just can't help myself sometimes. Hehehe. But you can't blame me though, things are going to take a turn soon so just try and remember the happy times of her blushing. But I won't give anything away, so you're gonna have to read it when I eventually update those chapters.**

**astrakane: Hey:) Thanks for the review. :) You are the other central reviewer that also been a muse of mine. :) I'm so glad that you are still reading and enjoying it:D Thank you so much. And it was a cruel ending but you sometimes have to be cruel to be kind…or something like that lol. But I'm really happy you're still interested in it:D **

**Shapiro: Hello again:) I love writing stories and I always try to improve it but thankyou very much. :D I love trying different fandoms because its fun. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you think its still good. I enjoy writing this story very much.**

**iHeartFFs: I reply to any review I get anonymous or not. :) And I'm glad it made you day! I am no where near finished with this story yet and I'm working on the next few chapters and working out some new ideas to bring the plot along but add something new to it. I only hope it works. But I'm glad and very happy you think the characters are spot on, that means I'm getting this right. Hooray! And I have finally updated. :) Hope you enjoy it.**


	20. Chapter 20: Revelations 101

Chapter Twenty: Revelations 101

Bender slept the rest of the day.

Claire kept careful watch over him the entire time, listening to his steady breathing with the utmost attention.

Carl came in and emptied the bins, but when he saw Bender sleeping and leaning against Claire and how Claire was watching him with an adoring gaze, he scoffed quietly and shook his head sadly.

_Teens, they always think it last forever…_

He left soon and it was just the two of them again.

Claire did not see Vernon again after lunch, so all of the time and silence allowed her to think.

To think about Bender and the mysterious girl…

And to think about her parents…

It had been only this morning her father had given her an update on the divorce, and it had Claire feel even more upset and abandoned.

He had told her that it was exactly two weeks till they were able to go to the lawyers and discuss everything before going to the courts. So she had exactly two weeks to decide whom she was going to stay with.

Two weeks to figure out whom she was going to _leave _with.

That had been his big news on the way to detention that morning.

No matter who she chose to stay with, she would be leaving school and moving t o another state.

Her mother was going to go to New York and do…something. Claire didn't quite understand what it was because her father hadn't elaborated it really clearly to her.

Claire could guess though.

Her mother was going to go to New York to live off whatever money she could get from the divorce.

Her father had revealed to her he had been offered a transfer to Los Angeles for a management position and that he was going to take it.

Claire had been in such a shock that when she had first arrived this morning, all she could think about was just seeing Bender and having his arms around her. But seeing him with that beautiful girl from his wallet had made her breawk.

She didn't know how she was going to tell the rest of the Breakfast Club let alone him about her moving away.

_Maybe I shouldn't…_

Claire instantly rejected this thought. They had every right to know, they were her friends and Bender was…

Well he was her boyfriend.

Maybe.

She wasn't sure.

Claire looked over to Bender's sleeping face and she could not help but smile at him.

Carefully she reached over and ran a hand through his hair a few times.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself.

"Continue doing this for a start." A mumbled reply came from his relaxed form.

Claire watched his eyes flutter open and slowly come to focus on her.

"Hey." She said smiling at him, hiding all emotional all emotional turmoil from him.

"Hey cherry." He mumbled and shut his eyes again.

Claire did not say anything more but she did continue to gently run her hand through his hair. She watched him smile and her heart just filled up with raw emotion.

"John…" she asked quietly.

Opening his eyes, feeling slightly annoyed because he was quite comfortable and didn't really want to talk, Bender looked up at her.

"What?"

Claire bit her lip hard and took a deep breath.

She knew that if she did not say anything now then she would never be able to build up the courage again to do this again.

"Who was that girl you walked to school with this morning?"

Bender's eyes instantly widened.

So it _had _been Claire he had seen off in the distance this morning!

_Ah shit…_

Wincing, Bender sat himself upright in his chair and stared at Claire.

She was watching him with such concentration; Bender knew what Claire was thinking.

He knew that she was worried or suspected that maybe, just maybe, he was interested in someone else.

Normally this would not affect him at all, but the thought that Claire might be thinking that caused him to feel really hurt for some reason.

"Claire…" he started but the instant he spoke tears rose in her eyes.

"Why?" she suddenly asked, very voice slightly wobbling with the rising tears.

He looked at her in sudden confusion, "Why what?"

Claire just stared at him, "Why her?"

Bender looked at her in angered confusion, "Why her what?"

Claire's temper began to boil. How the hell could he play innocent with her?

"What do you mean 'Why her what?' John? You know exactly what!"

Bender was now beginning to grow more angry than confused.

"What what Claire?!" he asked back, now growling in anger.

"Why her?!" she yelled. "That long-legged, gorgeous, black-haired, sex wise girl from your wallet! Why her?!"

Bender's face turned into one of shock for a split second before turning into one of confusion again.

"What about her?!" he yelled back in frustration.

"Why was she walking with you this morning and you…" she suddenly pointed at him, "and _you! _Why did you have you have your arm around her shoulders?!"

Bender just blinked at her and crossed his arms.

"What are you trying to say Claire?" he asked simply.

Claire gave him the death stare.

"If you were so hell bent on getting with one of our 'wallet girls', why didn't you just tell me before today? So then I'd have been able to prepare my heart!"

Her voice broke as she yelled and tears began to stream down her face.

Claire hastily turned away from Bender and wiped away her tears, hoping that her makeup hadn't smudged too much.

And that John Bender didn't think she was a huge crybaby.

It had been her first time openly talking about her feelings and look at where it had left her.

Accusing him of cheating on her, yelling at him, crying in front of him like a baby, and ultimately pissing him off.

She couldn't see Bender's hard face soften into one of concern and caring affection.

"Claire, did it ever occur to you that maybe she was just a friend helping me get to school?"

His voice was soft and made it sound so simple and obvious that Claire instantly turned around to look at him, eyes and mouth gaping.

"What?" she stammered in shock.

Bender gave her a crooked smile.

"Princess, you saw my good friend Sarah help an injured me to detention this morning because there was no chance in hell that I would have been able to do it by myself today."

Claire's eyes widened and she blinked a few times before looking away from Bender, embarrassed beyond belief.

Suddenly she felt his hand on her chin that turned her face back to look at him.

His expression was serious, "Claire, have I ever given you reason that I have the attention span to look at another girl when I've spent a full week being with one?"

Blinking back tears, she shook her head.

Bender moved his hand from under her chin and watched her.

"But you said to me one week ago that you don't believe in one boy one girl." Claire said sadly, hurt visible on her face.

Bender sighed heavily and Claire just turned away from him again.

Hearing her sniff caused Bender to feel both annoyance and guilt.

_Ah Claire…don't be like this. Please? I struggle enough around you just to still be 'bad' but I can't bear it when you're upset. Especially if I'm the reason… There's something wrong with you. You're not his big a bitch to be like this. Cherry, cherry, cherry…_

_John…I'm too scared to tell you I have to leave in two weeks. I'm scared for us and how you will react. I'm scared for you and having to go home tonight to your asshole of a father. I'm scared for so many things John…but the scariest thing of all is how fast I am falling for you._

"Well princess…that was before I met you." He said in a slightly bland tone, hiding his true feelings under his carefree 'who-gives-a-shit?' attitude.

It didn't stop Claire's heart from welling up with warm fuzzy feelings and overflowing into the rest of her body.

Looking back at him, Bender had one hand entangled in his hair and he looked both embarrassed and confused.

Claire couldn't find anything to say so she leant forward and placed a kiss on Bender's right cheek.

He looked at her exactly like he had last week when she had kissed his neck.

"You're outstanding in that capacity." She said and he could only grin both smugly and cockily, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Already in progress princess." He said smugly before looking at the clock.

It was 4 o'clock.

"Home time cherry." He said, looking back at her with slight sadness.

Claire just smiled back.

"Well I'm not being picked up today. Mom is away in France and Dad is…away on business."

Bender's eyebrow rose _very _suggestively at the news.

"Home alone Cherry?" he asked innocently but his eyes gave away his dirty thoughts.

Claire just gave him 'the look'.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I will be." She said in a warning tone.

Bender just grinned, "Sounds promising…"

Claire just glared at him, "John you're not even in any shape to do whatever gross thing you are thinking of."

"You'd be surprised Princess." He purred and started shifting closer to her.

Claire, wanting to move away, didn't but she waited until Bender made a certain movement and he suddenly grimaced in pain.

She looked at him with a 'see-I-told-you' look and he just glared at her in pain.

"I'm fine…" he said, still wincing as his ribs burned in pain.

"We need to get you to a hospital for a check-up." Claire said, seriousness written in her expression and voice. "My crappy bandage job isn't good enough, you need it to be done properly."

Bender sighed and looked thoughtful for a few seconds.

"Well…" he began and trailed off.

Claire instantly perked up, "What?"

"Well what I'm thinking of will consist of ideas and a plan that I am pretty sure you won't approve of."

Wearily she looked at him, but he was looking at her so mysteriously that curiosity got the better of her and she finally asked, "What is it?"

Bender smiled, feeling slightly triumphant and happy that he could always push the right buttons on her to get her curiosity.

"Yu help me to the hospital, I get knocked up on painkillers, you walk me home and then everyone will be happy."

Claire immediately looked at him in disbelief, "Walk you home? John there's no way!"

Bender just raised his eyebrows at her, "You got a better idea princess?"

Claire bit her lip and looked away, thinking hard.

Suddenly it occurred to her.

The only idea that was better than his.

But the only idea that goes against all of her parents rules.

Looking at him in self-worry, he just waited expectantly.

Gulping slightly she stopped biting her lip and looked fully at him.

"What is it Claire?"

Taking a deep breath, Claire gathered up her courage, opened her mouth and spoke,

"You could always come home with me…"

**A/N: ****Ok, it has been a little while since my last update but in this chapter many issues that I have been putting off have been addressed, and I have finally gotten this story back on its original plot line. I'm sorry for taking so long so I hope this long chapter has managed to still keep you interested and if not well I don't mind either. :) I'll still be updating regardless. :D**

**Thank you so much though for the great reviews I got for the last chapter though. Many thanks to the people who were kind enough to leave a comment and to the great people who have been with me all of the way. :)**

**romantic.dreamer26: I am very proud of you:D You have slightly figured it out but there'll be a twist at the end of the chapter (I hope if I can get it right). Not dating but there is a history and that is all I'm saying. Hehehe. :D Call me cruel but that's all I'm saying. I hope this update was quick enough for you. Thanks for the lovely review!**

**Kemowitch92: Hey thanks for the review! Glad you like and I hope this update has been quick enough. And I'm glad you liked the chapter, I was a bit unsure when I first wrote it about some parts but now I'm happy with it. Thanks again:D**

**roguegambit: ROFL! Yes he is a dink and a half. XD But I have to say though Bender's dad is an even bigger dink. As entertaining it would be to have him hit by a semi, (LOL!), the other option though is much more easier to do though. Lol. Hmm. The option of Vernon having a heart attack in the middle of detention is doable too. He he he. And I'm glad you liked the sushi reference, I couldn't help but add it in and it made me giggle when I thought of it. Glad you like it too and thanks for the fabulous ongoing support.**

**astrakane: your English is fine. :) I understand perfectly don't worry. :D There definitely should be more Bender love in the world:D And I know exactly what you mean with the people who just write whatever and can't be bothered to take the time to use a spell checker… But I'm very happy that you think its not like that. Although I have to edit some of my first few chapters cause I just re-read them and there's spelling mistakes. ; But that's so cool you're French:D I wish I could speak French, maybe one day. Thanks for the great review and your unwavering supoort of this story. :D**

**Shapiro: I'm addicted to writing it because **_**I **_**want to know what happens next too! Lol. But glad you are anticipated for the next chapter. :) Thanks for another great review!**

**Thwarted Moony: I LOVE John Bender very much and would happily fit into Claire's shoes if I could. Lol. Glad you like and thanks for the review too:D**


	21. Chapter 21: Off to the Hospital

Chapter Twenty One: Off To the Hospital

"I could come _home _with you?" Bender repeated _very _slowly.

Claire raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders.

"It was just an idea."

Bender pursed his lips and looked away from her, deep in thought.

He knew he had been going to ask him. He had been the one who had put the thought into her head in the first place.

Of course he wouldn't expect her to realize it, well actually he did but Bender knew it was going to take a while for it to hit her.

And he was personally looking forward to it.

A smile flashed on his face for a fraction of a second before he looked back at her with fake angered uncertainty.

"Is this out the goodness out of your virgin heart or out of sympathy for my less than perfect homely situation?" he asked, an eyebrow raised at her.

Claire just blinked at him.

"You sure you're not just doing it Claire because you feel sorry for little ol' me?"

Bender slowly bent his face towards hers; his face growing dark with something that Claire made her feel like she was his prey or something.

But she did not feel scared as he stared at her, directly into her face.

"You sure you're not just doing this Claire to take advantage that there might be a boy inside your house for the first time? That you'll be taking a walk on the wild side without Daddy holding your hand?"

As he spoke his voice got deeper and deeper and Claire's breath hitched in her throat at his expression.

Pure hunger.

"Ah…" Claire mumbled, unable to look away from his searing eyes. "I asked because I wanted to…and not for that disgusting double edge meaning you just said."

He looked at her for a few more seconds in silence before his expression suddenly changed and a smile burst onto his face.

"Well alright then." He replied, taking Claire completely by surprise at his change of heart.

She blinked a few times in shock, her mouth dropping open but she managed a nod.

"So ok?" she asked, hope clear in her voice.

Bender's reply was him sidling up next to her and, wincing, raising an arm before laying it heavily around her shoulders.

She looked at him with slight concern but he shrugged off her concern by rolling his eyes.

"Princess I'm gonna need to use you as a crutch so we can get to the hospital ok?"

Claire nodded but Bender just smirked at her slightly.

"Sorry Cherry but this is the closest you are going to get to having any serious action with me for a little while." He teased.

Instantly Claire glared at him with such disgust, Bender's smirk just widened even further.

"Is that all you ever think about?" Claire growled.

Bender looked at her very innocently, "When you are not a virgin, it's definitely on one's mind a lot."

"You're an asshole." She muttered under breath as they got up from their seats and slowly made their way out of the library.

"You love it princess." He instantly shot back. 

"Why do you call me that?" she asked as they started off through the corridors in the direction of the exit.

"What? Princess?"

"And Cherry."

"Well thought at least _that one _was obvious Claire."

Flushing with embarrassment and anger, Claire looked away from him and did not answer.

They walked in silence until they reached the exit and went outside.

"I'm not a freaking princess…" she grumbled quietly.

Bender just glanced down at her.

"Well what are you then?" he asked suddenly, his tone so serious that Claire turned her head to look at him.

"I…well…" she started but quickly stopped as she gave his question some serious thought.

What was she?

"I'm someone who…is spoilt too much." She replied with a half-smile.

"And?" Bender asked, "Surely there is more?"

Claire's nose wrinkled slightly in thought, causing Bender to secretly watch her with amusement.

"I'm…someone who is sad." She replied quietly, remembering the horrible choice she was going to have to make.

And the even more horrible news that she had to tell him soon…

But not today.

Bender's face melted into one of slight concern and confusion.

"Sad?" he asked, his voice unable to successfully mask his concern.

Hearing it, Claire reached up with her free hand and clasped his hand that was on her right shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's just some shit that's going on with my parents and the divorce." She said quietly, trying her best to repress the overwhelming sadness and tears that she had been ignoring the entire day.

"Uh huh…just _some _shit…" he repeated, his voice echoing her light tone.

But both knew she was lying to him.

"Yup, just some shit." She replied, plastering a fake smile on her face but failed miserably as he looked at her with a hard expression.

When his expression did not change, Claire forced herself to look away again.

And so they continued walking slowly in silence.

They slowly made their way past a few blocks but it wasn't until Bender's hand gripped her shoulder tightly that she slowed down even further and they both came to a stop.

She looked at him with concern at his pale face and was about to ask how he was but he just shook his head roughly before she could open her mouth.

"I'm fine…just need a short break." He grumbled at her, but exhaustion and pain was so clearly in his voice that Claire instantly nodded.

Luckily there was an empty park bench nearby so Claire carefully led Bender over and sat him down.

When he was sitting, Bender exhaled deeply and shut his eyes.

Claire stood in front of the chair and rubbed her arms, feeling slightly uncomfortable that she didn't have the guts to sit down next to him.

Some helpful girlfriend she was.

She sighed quietly and began to slightly scuff one of her shoes on the ground.

Claire looked around to see where they were and her heart sank when she realised that they were only a third of the way to the hospital.

She sighed deeply and turned around to look at Bender's still form on the chair in front of her.

Passer-bys stared at Bender's bruised face and looked on in shock until they passed but Claire could only see his relaxed face, no longer seeing his facial injuries.

"How long are you going to continue staring at me?" he asked suddenly, causing Claire to jump slightly.

"Until you are ready to go again." She replied.

Not opening his eyes, Bender said, "Then why are you still standing there?"

Confused, Claire asked, "What's wrong with me standing here?"

Bender sighed in annoyance and he opened his eyes and looked up at her, "Do you want me to speak plain fucking English so you can understand me cherry?"

Stung by his words Claire asked angrily, "Fine. Speak 'plain fucking English' for me."

Bender just glared at her, "Well all I fucking asked was if you wanted to sit next to me but forget I fucking asked princess if you can't even understand something that simple."

Bender looked away and crossed his arms with a very unhappy expression on his face, but to Claire he looked like a little boy who had just been told by his teacher to go and sit in the corner for doing something wrong.

A smile crept onto her lips as he huffed in annoyance.

_God he's so adorable…_

Claire slowly sat herself down next to him, but she was very careful to make sure she was not close enough to allow any part of her to be touching him.

She looked away and stared off into the distance with a secret smile as she waited to see what he would do.

She knew he may not do anything but the chances of that was incredibly slim as she felt the chair slightly move under her as his weight shifted.

Claire felt his eyes bore into the back of her head and she could easily sense the annoyance pouring out of him as she would not turn to look at him.

It was a universal fact and law that John Bender **hated **being ignored but the fact that she was doing it on purpose made him become both pissed off and confused.

"You can't ignore me." He said, his voice slightly rumbling with both annoyance and confidence.

Claire did not reply or look at him but her smile grew and, just to piss him off further, she crossed her arms over her chest.

Bender's eyebrows drew together heavily.

_Two can play at this game..._

Leaning over slightly Bender blew gently in her ear and Claire instantly rubbed her ear.

_He can't beat me that easy..._

She smiled as she felt him shift himself towards her until he was directly next to her. Still she did not look at him though.

"Claire..." he said in a 'sing-song' voice, sidling up even closer to her. "You have something on your face..."

Instantly Claire opened her eyes and turned around to look at him, eyes wide in slight panic.

"What?!" she asked, "Where?"

Bender leant forward and placed a very small kiss on her cheek.

"Right there."

Claire instantly blushed profusely and looked at him with a small smile.

"Oh." She replied and just smiled even more.

Bender chuckled slightly, "Did I make you blush cherry?"

Claire just rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement.

"I swear John, that you ego it as large as your head."

Bender just smirked, "Well actually..."

Claire did not want him to finish that sentence off so she reached down and held his hand.

"You ready to go?"

Bender sighed deeply, his smirk sliding off his face, "Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be."

Claire nodded slowly and helped him stand up again. When he had his arm around her shoulders and she was fully supporting him, they set off again.

Slowly, with lots of five minute breaks for Bender, the pair eventually arrived at the hospital.

When they stood in front of it, Bender's face beamed with happiness and relief.

"Thank fucking god Claire...we made it." He said happily, although exhaustion was clear in his voice and on his face.

Claire looked at him then back at the huge hospital.

"Yeah, hooray." She cheered, just as tired but her shoulders and back was killing her.

"So let's take me in then 'eh?" he asked and tapped the top of her shoulders, expecting her to immediately start moving.

Claire glared at him but, regardless, she started walking and supporting him.

"Cheer up Claire." Bender said, wheezing slightly. "If you didn't want to continue doing this I could just call Sarah and you could go on your merry way."

His reward for mentioning Sarah was Claire immediately speeding up slightly and pushing harder to make Bender go a little bit faster.

Bender winced at the increase in speed, but he had been right in mentioning Sarah's name.

Claire was possessive of him...

This he liked very much.

Making their way to the emergency room, the instant they walked through the doors, somebody called out,

"Bender! What the hell are you doing here? _Again?"_

The voice was male and very welcoming and both Claire and Bender swivelled around to try and see who it was.

Bender instantly recognised the face of the male intern across the room.

"James you would not believe the shit I've been through." Bender said, humour in his voice.

Bender suddenly surprised Claire by lifting his arm off her shoulders and trudged off, by himself, towards James.

Claire stood back and Bender carefully but she knew he would be alright. Although she was a little stung that Bender had not thanked her or even introduced her to his friend

Sighing, feeling hurt, Claire turned around and sat in a chair against the wall.

She watched as Bender spoke to James in a low voice and James frown, then nod several times.

Suddenly James led Bender off through a nearby set of double doors and disappeared.

Claire watched as the doors shut and she could not help but feel extremely nervous for Bender.

What if he had more serious injuries than they both had thought?

Getting herself comfortable in the chair, Claire decided that she was not going to leave until she saw her John again in front of her.

It was out of her hands but she could not help but silently pray that he was going to be ok.

**A/N: ****Hooray they are finally at the hospital. I am sorry for taking so long to update, school has been mega busy and I am also working on several other fics at the moment. :) **

**I hope everyone is still enjoying it and that they are going to continue reading it.**

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Muchly appreciated. :D**

**Robin and Marian 4ever: Hey. :) The answer is a resounding yes. They will all appear in it again. :D Thanks for the review.**

**ThePhantomoftheOpera101: I never want Claire to meet Bender's dad…if she can avoid it. ;) Glad you like this story and how I portray my favorite two characters. :D I am not telling how it is going to work out but you never know, you could be on the right track. :D Thanks for the lovely review. :D**

**iHeartFFs: Bender isn't stupid. :) He's pretty crafty and you just have to be careful if he uses it on you. Lol. Poor Claire isn't really that bright yet, but she might get there one day. :) Glad you like, thanks for the review and thanks for still reading it. :D**

**StoriesThatNeverWere: I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a Beta! But I've never asked for one before. Do you have an e-mail I could send a new chapter to you before I update for proof-reading and comments? **

**I added a twist:D I'm proud of myself actually because normally I can't think of any twists. Ah ha! The plot thickens:D**

**And I love writing Bender's banter, it's fun because he just can't help himself. I hope the next chapter will be full of banter. And as for how it is going to work out the possibility of her moving…well you will just have to wait and see. :) I'm not going to give anything away except your guesses are wrong. :)**

**helinahandcart: Yeah it wasn't really that strong a chapter but it is a necessary one unfortunately. Although it does have it's good moments though. I hope you enjoy what is to come and that they are going to be stronger than this chapter. :) Nad I hope to update ASAP:)**

**romantic.dreamer26: Well I'm glad that your relieved. :D I get that way while writing, an example is when I've just had a brainwave and while writing it the characters suddenly do something else. Lol. And I'm happy you like the way I write them, I was slightly starting to get worried that I was losing the edge on how to write these two. These characters mean a lot to me and I would hate to get it wrong.**

**But that's awesome you could picture Bender in that bit. I could too. :) Thanks for the review and I hope you keep reading when I update.**

**hotbritt5000: Hey! Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like it. :) I hope you'll keep reading. :D**

**Kemowitch92: Hey again:) Thank you very much. I think Claire might figure something else but it's going to be something different I think. :) We'll see how we go. I've got a few ideas in the pipeline and a near definite solution, but I don't Claire's parents will be able to help him. But we'll see. :)**

**roguegambit: Claire has gone rebel! Lol, but she's past he point of caring what her parents think, Bender's more important at the immediate moment. Daddy isn't going to feel guilty unless Claire complains about the moving….but will she? And what if she picks her mum? So many questions and possibilities it's candy writing it. :D But keep that hopeful smile on, you never know what's around the corner with this story. :) Thanks for another review. :) And for being second. :D**

**astrakane: hello to you too. :) I'm going to update ASAP and yes I am a bit cruel, but I only did it just to entice the reader to want more. And I think I have managed to do that with you. :D Sorry for breaking the laws of leaving a hanging at the end of a chapter. Lol. - Glad you like the story and thanks for another great review and for being the first to review chapter. :D**


	22. Chapter 22: Filling in Time

Chapter Twenty Two: Filling in Time

Time seemed to drag…

No, it **did** drag.

It _crawled _by.

No. It didn't move at all as a matter of fact.

Claire hated the clock on the waiting room wall.

She wished it would burn in hell…

Along with Bender's dad.

She wished they would both simultaneously combust into flames.

Unfortunately that would mean the smoke alarm would go off and the water sprays on the roof would be activated.

Then she would get soaked…

So she would be wet, even more pissed off, but also worried and scared for Bender all at the same time.

_I hate that fucking clock!!_

Claire had been watching it for two hours and she had not seen Bender since he had disappeared behind the double doors with that male intern named 'James'.

She did not know why they were taking so long but glaring at the clock on the wall was holding back her ever-growing fear and concern for Bender.

"Are you Claire?"

A familiar deep male's voice suddenly snapped Claire out of death staring at the defenseless clock, instantly causing her to turn to see whom it was.

It was James.

He opened his mouth to speak but Claire was out of her chair like a rocket, standing in front of him and firing question after question at him before he could even say a word.

"Yes I am Claire. Where's John? How is he? How badly hurt is he? Are they worse than what we thought? Is it his ribs? I'm sorry if the bandaging I did was shit. I have never had to do one properly before and…But how is he? I've been so worried and…" her voice trailed off as it cracked and she started to break down.

All of the repressed fear, worry and concern were beginning to overwhelm Claire as tears rose in her eyes.

James watched the girl in front of him beginning to fall apart and he knew without a doubt that she really cared for Bender.

Stepping forward he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, which caused Claire to stare up at him intently.

"He's alive Claire and he has no internal bleeding but…" his voice trailer off.

Her eyes widened at the news and she waited for him to continue, but James looked away from Claire with a slight look of discomfort.

"Doctor?" she asked pleadingly.

He looked back at her wand said bleakly, "All of his lower ribs have been cracked and three have been broken. His entire upper body is severely bruised and he has suffered a minor head wound and concussion. Indicating he has been hit with a blunt object. It's a miracle he has no brain damage or any other serious injuries."

Every word he said hit Claire with shock but it was James' last sentence that caused her to suddenly lean forward and hug him as relief burst through her like pure adrenaline.

James instantly froze and waited a few seconds before awkwardly patting her on the back as she began crying in relief and thanks.

_God if Bender saw her hugging me I'd be a dead man…_

After a minute Claire got a hold on herself and she stepped back from him, wiping her tears away and regaining her composure.

"Thank you so much Dr…" she said, smiling at him but she suddenly found that she could not remember his name or have the thought to look at his ID card on his surgery scrubs.

"James." He replied with a surprised smile.

She smiled but quickly she looked at the door the double door then at him, biting her lip slightly and looking very worried again.

"Can I see him?"

James ran a hand tiredly through his wild hair and looked briefly at the double door he had just passed through.

He wasn't sure if Bender would want, but there was something about this girl that was completely different to all of Bender's girls…

She was on the rich side of the tracks and she seemed to really care about him.

_Well she was his support to get him here, literally…_

Looking at her, James sighed when he saw her hopeful expression and the image of Bender a few minutes ago.

"Yes you can see him."

Claire felt happiness burst inside her and, unable to help herself, she leaned forward and gave James another bone-crushing hug.

Winding poor James, she quickly took a step back and beamed at him.

James wheezed, "Ok, you cannot do that to Bender under any circumstances."

Nodding in serious agreement, Claire began following him through the double doors and out of the waiting room Claire now thought, not so affectionately, as a torture chamber.

They walked through several corridors and past many doctors, patients and other interns.

As Claire followed him, she couldn't help but wonder exactly who this James was and how he knew Bender and for how long. He looked as if he was in his late twenties at least!

"So how long have you known John?"

James looked at her out of the corner of his eye as they turned a corner into another corridor, but he couldn't help but smile at the suspicious tone in her voice.

Leading her towards an elevator, he pressed a button and watched the numbers light up and individually decreased to the level they were currently on.

Claire waited for an answer but seconds passed in silence and James didn't even seem to hear her.

She sighed and glared at his back for a second when suddenly the elevator doors opened and they both stepped inside. Then he spoke.

"Seven years."

Claire looked at him in pure shock, "Seven years??"

He nods and looks at her with an amused smile, "Don't look at me like that. Now I just feel old."

Claire looked back at her reflection on the closed doors and she manages a small smile in her shocked state.

Looking back at him, she gave him a small apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for being so shocked but that means you must have known him since he was…"

"Young." James replied with a smile. "Yeah I've known him for a long time."

He sighed and watches the elevator numbers rise, the memories of knowing Bender raced through his head and his smile fell slightly as he remembered all of the times he looked after Bender after his dad had kicked him around. Now today was another memory to add into the collection.

"Yeah I've known him for a long time..." He repeated quietly to himself.

Claire looked at him with a somber expression and she could guess what James was thinking about, but she didn't say anymore as the elevator came to a halt and its doors opened.

Immediately James was walking out and Claire followed him quickly. The rest of the way they walked was in complete silence as they were both deep in thought and memories.

It was a few minutes later that they stopped outside a single door.

"Here we are." James said with a slight smile and pointed to the door.

Claire stared at it and she felt an odd sense of…fear and uncertainty?

"What if he doesn't want to see me?" she asked suddenly, looking at James with worry.

He smiled gently at her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Claire in knowing you only a few minutes, I think I can easily say that you are the only person who deserves to see him."

She nodded and looked at the closed door for a second before looking at James again with uncertainty. 

"How long does he have to stay in here for?"

James sighed and looked at the closed door too. "I told him a few days, too keep a close eye on him, allow him a chance to recover because he can't go home but…"

He suddenly stopped and looked at Claire with a slightly knowing look, "He was adamant about being discharged today because he assured me he already had a place to stay that he knew was safe."

Blinking a few times, Claire found herself absolutely speechless and unable to answer.

_How could he know??_

James did not add anything further but he took a step back from her and tilted his head at the door.

"He's awake and I have given him some morphine, so he may seem a bit out of the loop for a few hours."

She thanked him and could not help but think about what interesting conversations she was going to have Bender.

"I'll talk to you later Claire when I make my rounds." James said with a smile, "Then I can inform you on how to look after Bender until he is better and all healed up."

Claire's eyes widened, "_I _look after him until he is better?"

Looking at her in confusion, he asked, "Well Bender did mean you didn't he? That you were going to be the one looking after him?"

A million thoughts entered Claire's mind as she stared at the closed door containing an injured, morphine-dosed Bender. She bit her bottom lip as a million reasons why she shouldn't do it ran through her brain. Her parents would kill her, she'd be kicked out of the house, she's probably miss days of school at a time, and she'd have to tell her parents the biggest lie in the universe if she was going to stay at home when they separated.

She could do it though.

It would mean one hell of a fight with her parents to let her stay when they returned…but it was not impossible.

She could look after Bender.

The Breakfast Club would be there to help as well.

A smile crept onto her face as she made her decision and she turned back to look at James, her eyes dancing at knowing she would be looking after Bender until her parents returned in a few days.

"Yeah he meant me." She said with a proud smile, causing James to nod slightly back at her.

Claire was about to reach for the handle when James suddenly spoke, causing her hand to falter mid-air.

"He is going to have to report his old man Claire, or I will."

Turning around to face James, Claire saw a fierce anger burn in his eyes and she saw that it mirrored the anger that burned within her.

Pure hatred.

"I know." She replied sadly. "But he may not be able to."

"Then tell him, or I will do it."

Claire blinked a few times before shaking her head, "No James, that's something you have to do yourself. Not me because I need to be here for him, then I will tell him what I think. Which really is something I don't want to discuss with you, no offence."

Her tone was soft but there was a determination in it that caused James to nod understandingly at her.

"Ok Claire. I'll discuss it later with him. We just need to get him better first."

Nodding in silence, she finally opened the door and walked inside. James didn't try and stop the door from being quietly shut in his face. Suddenly his pager went off and as he checked it, he couldn't help but smile as he started walking off down the corridor to his next medical case.

_She's definitely a keeper this one…_

He knew the fate of his good friend was going to be alright as long as he had Claire in his life.

He hoped anyway…

**A/N:**** Four months…my goodness. I will never leave an update this late again. First of all I must apologise for the lack of updates. I have been writing for a few months because I have been extremely engaged at school working extremely hard to hopefully do well enough that I will be getting into university next year. **

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed over the months and keeping me inspired that people were still reading my story. It meant more than anything.**

**I only just hope people can forgive me for taking so long to update, but regardless, I just hope people will continue to read it.**

**And I can promise that next chapter will be updated much quicker, and it will involve a morphine-dosed Bender, fluff, and an appearance from an old friend whom we will discover more about.**

**But once again thank you to everyone who continued to read and review when I wasn't here. I have now been working on this story for over a year. Gee whiz! I wonder if it will stretch into two? Lol.**

AngeandBender4Ever: I hate leaving any story unfinished, especially if I am reading a great story and it does just stop, and I promise that it won't happen to this story. I just have been unable to update due to school, but thanks for helping me get back on the hobbyhorse of writing. This story is my favourite story I have written and I can't leave it unfinished. I just might be a bit slow sometimes with updating chapters due to real life, but I won't leave an update this late again.

Linette: Well you just did thank me, and I can't thank you enough for saying that. When writing a fanfic for one of my favourite movies, I have tried my best to remain faithful to characters' voices because I have read so many fics when the characters just aren't the same because of the author/ess not being able to capture that vital aspect. I have lost count of how many times I have deleted whole chapters since writing this story because I couldn't get the dialogue quite right. But that is the biggest aim to achieve with this story, so thank you very much. :D And as for it seeming to be 'a natural continuation', that was my ultimate goal when writing this story. This is just a vision I had and wanted to happen, well one of them any way XD, so thank you very much! :D Sorry for the long reply but I wanted to take your review into great consideration because it addressed exactly what I have been wanting to get across since starting it last year. So thank you for one of the best reviews I have ever received. It makes all of the hard work put into a story be worth it :)

AngeandBender4Ever: Hey thanks for the review. :) I'm glad you love it and I hope you like the latest update. Hopefully the next update will not be so slow…it won't be. Lol.

Kia: Top three?? Wow! Thanks great! :D Thank you very much! There are many great fics out there but for mine to be in your top three is making me grin madly. - I will definitely be updating soon and I always try to write stories that are grabbing, particularly this one because it is very special to me. I hope you continue to keep an eye out for this because I will be aiming to be posting much sooner and quicker than I have been. Thanks for the review! :D

itsi3: Wow! Thank you very much Crystal! I have tried my hardest to try and keep Bender how he is in the movie, I would hate to not write him correctly (because he is the best character out of the whole movie for me :p). I love Claire and Bender as a couple too! I am happy you like how I have written it too! That means a lot because it is sometimes hard to write it but knowing that is great because I am doing something right lol. But I am definitely continuing whenever I can :) Thanks for the great review!

Running-Wild22: ''Salutes'' Aye aye Kia! Update initiated and completed. And as for that way to make them stay together…well I am still working on it :p But I am getting there. :D Thanks for the review -

general01lee: Hey thanks coop :D Bender is my favourite from the movie too. I'm happy you love my story - I have fun writing it when I can. I hope you will like what happens next.

EmberJewel: You read it all in one day? That's cool! :D I feel very honoured you took the time to do that and that you like it so much. I haven't been continuing it due to lack of time and ideas for what could happen next, but I think my troubles for that have subsided for the moment which is very hopeful. Thanks for the review and it makes me feel great that people are still reading it and inspires me to continue. :)

GraceTempest: Thanks very much! :D I love the Breakfast Club too. It is one of my favourite movies!!

JustBecauseHeLives: I always repeat words don't worry - I'm sorry for leaving you hanging like that. Hopefully this new update will not leave you so…hanging. Lol. :D Thanks for the review. :D

Tanni-chan: Hey there, :) thanks for the review and for liking it. I have been unable to update for ages, but now hopefully I will be updating more often and much quicker too.

PennyLaneismysong: I have started to write more after an incredibly bad drought of no ideas and having no time. But the plot bunnies are slowly coming back to me. I'm sorry for the lack of updates. But thanks for the review :)

KitaTsuki: Bender is very yummy! :D I am guilty of watching that film a million times or more too. Lol. I am glad you like it so far, I have read so many fics of what could possibly happen and this is just my spin on it. :D I am trying to pace it out a bit so it seems to have a plausible timeline. Thanks for the review too! :D hope you like the update.

ThePhantomoftheOpera101: I hate cliffhangers too XD I love playing with Claire's jealousy that is oh so obvious to Bender. Lol. And as an answer to your question, yes Claire will be meeting some of them. The idea had been playing around in my head as I have slowly progressed with this story and the opportunity is just too good not to pass up. :D Now as for Bender and Sarah…well that is still be said, but Sarah will appear again. Mwahaha! Lol. Thanks for the review! :D

astrakane: More characters does equal more mysteries! :D Glad you liked the chapter and thanks for another great review. :D

Kemowitch92: Hey thanks for the review :D Yeah my chapters are seemingly starting to lag, which is kind of beginning to annoy me so I will try and not make them so slow - As for Claire telling Bender about her parents…well that will be soon because I don't think I can hold it off for much longer. :)

roguegambit: Now why do I get the impression that you don't like my little cliff-hangers? XD Now as for public transport…to be honest the idea actually never ever occurred to me. Silly as that sounds that is true. Claire is naïve sometimes…lol. But yeah I feel really stupid for not thinking about public transport at all…hmmmm….anyway, thanks for another great review and I hope that you will still continue to read it :D


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